A Girl Called Anna 2
by jack-adam
Summary: Yoh and Anna's relationship problems surface. Hao and Sumiko have difficulties of their own. Ren and Pirika encounter a painful shock from reality. Things never end like fairytales. jackadam's last story on FFNet. Please read and review. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

There is never an end to something.

There is always a cut to a part of the story, which then leaves the reader to figure out by themselves how the story is going to end. Just because two people have become a couple doesn't mean that the story ends there. Doesn't mean that two people share their first kiss means that that love will last forever.

It also doesn't mean that because two people get married. . .

Then they will live happy lives.

We last touched Ren and Pirika.

Hao and Sumiko.

And last but not least. . .Yoh and Anna.

The final chronicles of Hao's plans.

The shattering of the mystery of Sumiko and Ejio.

Yoh and Anna's final coming together.

Things are far from over.

Please await A GIRL CALLED ANNA 2.

END PROLOGUE

That's right, I'm starting a sequel. I hope some of you out there are as excited as I am. Please look up my forum for more details. 


	2. Rukio Makoto

Well, here I am, continuing something that I said was completed. How embarrassing. I'm hoping this one would be able to stand straight in the face, unembarrassed in the face of my first story, and not continue the name of the famous "disappointing" sequels. However, I have to warn you that the second installment to my story will be more emotional than the first. So you have been warned. Now let's get along with the story.

CHAPTER 1

_The young man stood before the devil, not a shred of fear within his body, his hands tucked within his pockets calmly, looking up at it with a cool smirk upon his face. "I've already spend all my allocated time in Hell." He said sullenly. "Let me out of here." _

_A small grin started to form on the monster's face, and already the man could sense he was not going to have a very clean ticket out of here. But he was ready to make a mess from the beginning; and he also knew he was not going to bother with cleaning up the whatever he was going to leave behind. "And if you're not willing to do so. . ." he continued sullenly. A thin plane of ice shot out from his fingers, and the red monster's eyes widened. "Then I'll be more than happy to slice you into two on my way out." he smirked._

_"Now, step away."  
_

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Yoh sat in front of his front porch calmly, his hands tucked behind the back of his head, looking up at the skies above peacefully. Things had gone right back to normal after the freaky "Hao-wanting-to-steal-Anna-away-from-him-and-have-her-all-for-himself" incident. He never thought it was possible, but it was, and everyone learnt to let things pass as time went along. He looked at the huge pile of raked leaves on the side of the house and smiled to himself happily. It had taken him all day to get all those damn leaves to one appropriate place where no one could "accidentally" jump into, or stomp through, but it would be damn well worth it to show Anna in exchange of a nice, hot meal for once. Or a day without a slap on the cheek would suffice perfectly fine too.

Suddenly, the tea cup that was calmly sitting next to him trembled. He blinked, and raised his eyebrows at it. It trembled once more, the drink inside it making ripples within. He grinned; amused. "You know, if I wasn't fully sure that I was awake at the moment, I would expect a Tyrannosaurus Rex to step out behind. . .WHOA!"

Behind him stood Anna, her eyes glaring down at him in dangerous slits.

"Anna!" he said, managing a full cartwheel to land perfectly on his feet. "I've already done the things that you told me to do! I raked the leaves! I put the rake back in the garage! I've done the dead!" And to finish that beautiful statement, he pushed both his palms forward majestically at his work, which was now already swept across the yard by the playful wind.

Silence.

"Do with me what you will." He said miserably.

But surprisingly, she did nothing, and sat down next to him, sighing.

He blinked, surprised by the direct contrast from her usual actions. "What's wrong, Anna?" he asked her curiously.

"Hao and Sumiko are at it again." She said, picking up the tea cup and lifted it to her lips, drinking it.

Silence.

"Sex?" Yoh inquired.

"They're arguing, you idiot." She snapped.

"Oh, that." Yoh said, sighing along with her. "What is it about now?"

"Ejio caught the two of them in. . .well. . .action." Anna said, blushing.

Silence.

"Arguing?" Yoh inquired again.

"Sex, you idiot!" she snapped again. "Naturally Ejio didn't take it too well, aimed several ice picks at Hao, and Hao blasted Ejio through about fifteen layers of concrete."

"Ouch." Yoh said, wincing. "Where's he now?"

"At Kino's, getting a full recovery."

"I meant Hao."

And almost perfectly using the term "speak of the devil". . .

An ice pick flew past the two of them, bursting a hole in the door of where Anna and Yoh lived. They raised their eyebrows at the damage for a moment before turning their attention once more to the scene before them. Hao was standing with his back facing them, flames bursting out of his hands, Sumiko standing opposite of him, breathing heavily.

"I hate you, Hao Asakura!" she yelled, her eyes welled up with tears, and ran down the street.

"Disappointment of the century!" Hao roared.

"Oh dear." Yoh muttered.

Anna got to her feet, her eyes glaring at Hao menancingly. The air surrounding her seemed to quiver under her presence. "Yoh, get me some tea." She said quietly. Yoh was about to question her when she simply turned to face him, and fearfully, he practically jumped into the hole that used to be their door. Anna then turned to Hao.

"Sit down." She said.

He sat down.

And she sat down beside him.

"I'm going to honest with you, Hao." She said to him. "I never trusted you with Sumiko. Never did. But all I know is that she loves you, and if you keep making her cry this way, I'm going to do you in." he opened his mouth to interrupt. "Do you know what she does every night? She comes over to my room, and cries her heart out. Do you know how it feels to watch a girl with no emotions cry?" Anna was practically burning holes in Hao's face. "Let me just tell you one thing. You break Sumiko's heart in any little way. . .and I'm going to kill you."

"How positively terrifying." He said, his lips twitching. "I bet you can't say that again with a straight face."

"I don't care if Yoh trusts you. I don't. I just think you're a demon in rest." Anna said shrewdly. "And if you're planning something, you better just quit it."

Hao smirked.

"Yeah?" he whispered. "Such as what?"

And at that moment, something crossed Hao's eyes that Anna never liked; a dark sinister look of dawning evil that seemed to be creeping back into him. But at the next second, it was gone as soon as it appeared, and Hao had that calm look upon his features once more. "Instead of caring so much about me and Sumiko's relationship, why don't you take a look at your own relationship with Yoh first?"

"What do you mean?" Anna said piercingly.

"You know perfectly well what I mean." He said silkily. He paused, and if he was waiting for the dramatic effect, he was doing extremely well. He smiled at her, a smile that crossed between playfulness, lust, and enjoyment. "From what I've seen. . .you haven't bothered to embrace my brother for quite some time."

Anna said nothing.

And nothing followed that.

And the grin on Hao's face widened.

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Pirika and Horo Horo peered into Ren's room.

Nobody was there.

Pirika let out the breath that she was holding.

"You know that you haven't fully avoided this, Pirika." Horo said, slapping the back of his sister's head disapprovingly. "This might have been thanks to your luck that Ren isn't home, but you know that you have to tell him sooner or later."

"I know that. . ." Pirika said, rubbing the back of her sore head painfully. "I just hope that 'sooner' would be much faster than 'shorter', you know?"

Horo smiled sadly.

"Yeah." He said. "I think that I do."

"You do, what?" came a voice behind them.

They turned to come face-to-face with Ren and Tao Jun, a bag of shopping in Jun's hands. She smiled. "Ah, Pirika and Horo. You two are planning to stay for dinner, I hope?"

"No, actually. . .I've actually got some errands to do." Horo said, stepping away. "Hey Ren," he said, and his friend turned to him. "Pirika has something she wants to tell you."

And with that, he left out the front door.

Ren turned to Pirika.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Tao Jun decided this was her chance to leave, and slowly started to move away from the room, carrying the load of the shopping bag with her.

Pirika bit her lip.

"I love you, Ren." She whispered. "You know I do. There's nothing in the world that hurts me more to tell you this, but. . .I guess have to get it off my chest."

"What?" he asked, his throat dry. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No, God, no." Pirika cried. "It's. . .something worse."

"Worse?" he asked hoarsely. "What could be worse than that?"

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Sumiko walked down the road, furiously wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Damn Hao Asakura." She whispered. "He could have at least bothered to not bash my brother into bits. I wonder how he's doing now." She let out a sigh before taking another step forward, reaching into her pocket to take out a lemon and sucked on it pitifully, finally taking a look at her surroundings, and realized that she had taken a wrong turn, and was between a long wall that seemed endless from left, and from right. "Oh great." She said, rolling her eyes, ready to take a detour back, when she noticed that there was someone already standing in her way.

"Still sucking those lemons, Sumiko?" he whispered, smiling at her.

Her eyes widened.

"Rukio. . .Makoto." she said, her words coming between her lips in a dull hiss, her voice echoing down the long lane of walls.

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"I'm leaving, Ren."

Ren simply stared at Pirika, as thought she had said nothing, or as if he simply chose not to hear in utter disbelief, or that he hoped if he stayed silent long enough he would awaken from the nightmare he was in. "You're. . ." he said, in a voice that was barely a whisper. "You're. . .leaving?"

She nodded, not able to trust her voice anymore.

"Why?" he said, voicing his thoughts.

"Every person under our sirname has to meet up for this gathering, and we go for this hike over mountains and mountains in search for life." She said. "It's undeniable that we leave."

Ren was speechless for what seemed like hours, glaring at her as though it was all her fault before looking down at his feet. "And how long will. . .will you take?"

Tears fell from Pirika's face.

"Three years."

_Death suddenly didn't seem so painful._

_Daggers and guns were only skin deep._

_Words could pierce through your soul._

"And. . ." he said, his body trembling from head to toe. "When are you. . ." he choked on his words. "When are you leaving?"

Tao Jun, outside, shut her eyes, hugging herself tightly.

"In a week." Pirika whispered, her words crashing down on Ren.

_God, please kill me now._

A week.

A week in trade of three years.

It didn't seem like a very fair exchange.

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"What are you doing here, Rukio?" Sumiko said.

"Ah. . .good question." He said. "I'm here for you, Sumiko." He took a daring step towards her, and she stepped back in fear. "I escaped and had to pierce my way through the devil to get to you, but everything's worth it." He smiled at her. "I've missed you."

_I've missed you too._

"I'm married, Rukio." She said.

His eyes widened, and suddenly the light within them was gone, and in exchange of them was something so different and ugly that it suddenly seemed believable for Lucifer to change from an angel to the devil itself. But then he smiled at her, in something so innocent and peaceful that she got a mental of a child killing his parents without a trace of emotion.

"Yeah?" he said quietly. "And who's the lucky man?"

She opened her mouth to speak.

"Me." Came a voice behind her, his hand touching her shoulder gently. Her eyes widened.

Rukio blinked, and looked across Sumiko to see who it was. And his eyes widened at the sight of him.

The man behind Sumiko took a sullen step forward, protecting his wife from the man before her, a hand raised out to defend her from him. Rukio simply stared at the shuddering pressure emitting out from Hao; the ground shivering at his mere presence. And as he continued to spoke, his words came out like the thundering of clouds and the roar of the oceans. He was ever being, ever powerful. The strongest shaman on the face of the earth.

"Hao. . ." Sumiko whispered softly.

"My name is Hao Asakura." he said calmly. "And come any closer to my wife and I'll kill you."

END CHAPTER 1

What do you all think of the building tension? I hope I've "so far" pleased or excited a few of you. I'll keep you guys updated on when I finish the next chapter. Please look forward to chapter 2! This may very well be my last story on :(


	3. Change

Chapter 2 everyone! Please check up on my website to find out the latest news on my postings of Girl Called Anna 2 and stuff. New layout, everyone! Please check it out!

CHAPTER 2

Rukio watched Hao for a moment before a broad grin appeared across his features. "Hao Asakura." he whispered, delight icing his words. "Of course. Who else in the world could have attracted Sumiko other than the great Hao Asakura. So great that he could fly down from the sky behind Sumiko without either of us realizing his presence." He licked his lips excitedly. "Unmatchable power."

Sumiko turned behind to face her husband fearfully, and she felt a sudden chill go down her spine at the dirty look on his face. Flames burst out from him immediately, and he took a shuddering step past Sumiko, his hands in his pockets, getting closer to the man before him. "Rukio." he said simply, and the entire area seemed to crack and shatter under his painfully calm words. Like the thin swipe of a knife. "When did you get out of Hell?"

"Just a hundred years after you." the man said, his grin broadening.

"And I thought that I had traced down every single of the traitors in my group. Who would have thought that there would still be one rat crawling around through the filthy holes of this place."

"Oh, that's mean of you to say." Rukio said. "Is that any way to speak to the only person in the world who's stronger than you?"

"Want to try me out?" Hao said, his voice coming out in a deadly whisper, his Spirit of Fire bursting out from behind him.

Rukio grinned.

"Hao!" Sumiko cried. "Please don't!"

Rukio's grin widened as a spirit burst out from behind him, almost taking up twice the space that Hao's spirit took. Hao stayed sullen before speaking up sourly. "And where did you get that from?" he asked quietly. "Just where did you find the Spirit of Water?"

"Like you, Hao Asakura." Rukio said. "I earned it. It took me a thousand more years than it took you, but I finally achieved it. I'm stronger than you now, my old master."

"Try it out, then." Hao said.

At that moment there was a burst of ice from the middle of the ground that immediately posed itself as a shield between Rukio and Hao. Three people appeared from the icy mist that clouded the area. Ejio, Yohmei and Kino stood there, grave looks on their faces.

"That's enough from the both of you." Kino said angrily. "The last thing we need is a war between the two of you, with one of my favourite ramen stalls just nearby."

"We're lucky that you were hungry, my dear." Yohmei said calmly, setting down his top hat. "Thanks to us, a near war is about to be avoided."

"You think you can stop me?" Hao snarled.

"No, Heavens no." Yohmei chuckled. "But we know that we can stop that little boy over there. Am I not right? Rukio?"

Hao almost rolled his eyes, but at the sight of plain fear in Rukio's eyes, he simply stared at Ejio in shock, who said nothing but looked forward at his sister, his body still heavily bandaged in cloth. "Are you injured in any way? Nee-san?" he asked her. Sumiko paused for a moment before noticing her brother's presence and nodded. "Yeah." she said. "I'm fine. But what about you?"

"I'm fine." Ejio replied, but his eyes were on Rukio, a look of extreme dislike on his face.

"Well," Yohmei said, tipping his top hat over his head. "Since this seems like something worthy having a feast over, shall we have a meal at that ramen stall that Kino loves?"

Rukio took one last glare at Hao before bowing so low that his nose practically touched his toes. "Yes, sir." he muttered solemnly. "I would be delighted."

Hao raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

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Ren was alone in his room, looking up at the ceiling. There were one too many times where Tao Jun would walk in on her brother in this depressing mood to find something amiss, but there was something that seemed to be deeper about his sorrow this time. It was like when you scraped your knee, just giving it time would heal it. This time seemed like the wound was too deep to heal, and if you simply left it alone, you would die from the immense cut, and the blood leaking out of it.

Jun sat down on his bed next to him. He said nothing to acknowledge her presence. Jun opened her mouth to speak before shutting it again, and stared at the ceiling like him; a mighty stupid gesture to do.

It was around twenty minutes later when Ren spoke up.

"It's boring like this." Ren said quietly.

Jun stopped looking upwards to visit her brother's features. He was still showing his usual signs of false strength, when he tried to look less weaker than he felt. But his body was shaking from head to toe, and there was something so pitiful about this that made her bring her gaze away from him. "It's so boring like this." Ren repeated, his words harsher this time. "Everyday is the same thing. Wake up early in the morning, do some light exercises, and then go for a long run. After the run, Pirika would be there at the same spot waiting for me to bring me breakfast and a cup of tea."

Tao Jun shut her eyes.

"Then, we would probably go out for a while, and then drop by the coffeehouse to simply slack around with Yoh and the rest of them. Then I would come back to do some real training, and then eat dinner, then probably study and exercise some more, then I would go to sleep. Life is so boring this way."

Silence.

"But yet I've grown to like it." he continued. "And now that I know that at the end of the day when I finish running my race. . .the woman I love wouldn't be there waiting for me." Ren's body trembled. "My best friend wouldn't be there to train with me. Two people that I care the most about from outside my family are leaving. And suddenly. . .that boring routine seems like a river that's about to stop flowing. And only then will people start appreciating it for what it is."

Tao Jun sighed and raised a hand gently to touch her brother when she saw his body shaking so hard it almost seemed like he was. . .

She paused in mid-action.

"I don't want to be alone." Ren said, hot angry tears running down his cheeks. "I don't want them to go."

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"You seem tired, Anna." a co-worker said to her.

"Do I, Yoko?" she said, scratching the back of her head. "Maybe it's because I didn't get to sleep a wink last night. My husband was singing that stupid Boblove song that he loves so damn much. Hell, we even still have a poster of that freak on our door."

Yoko smiled at her and sat down on the chair across from Anna's working desk. "Oh yes, you're still married to that lazy husband of your. Yoh Asakura, right?"

"Just the one." Anna said.

"So how are the two of you going?"

"Fine." Anna said shortly. "Just fine."

Yoko gave her a bemused look. "Doesn't sound so fine to me. Come on," she said, grabbing Anna's hand comfortingly. "You know you can tell me anything. I mean,. I've been your damn co-worker for three years. I even got you out from that jam about the stack of gay porn found in your drawer."

"I say this for the last time, it was sent as a joke from my husband's brother." Anna growled, her face reddening considerably.

"Yes, no doubt it was, but guess what, sister? I told him it was mine to save your reputation." Yoko said, thumping her chest with pride. "The least you could do to say thank you for that is tell me. I mean, come on, I was called '**Queen Horny Rhino'** for a month for that."

Anna paused before suppressing a chuckle. "Fine. If it's a need to know basis."

"It always is, luv." she said, smirking.

"I don't know if you've ever been through this phase I've been in, but. . ." Anna said, scratching the back of her head uncomfortably. "But did you ever ask yourself the question that. . .if you couldn't have sex, then your husband would dump you to go out with another woman?"

"No shit, lady." Yoko said. "By thinking that, means that you are. . .finally thinking."

"No shit."

Yoko took a quick glance around the office before turning back to Anna. "Hey. Since you told me a secret, I've decided to reward you with one of mine."

"I thought the debt was already paid, Queen Horny Rhino."

"Bite me." Yoko said. "Do you want to hear me out or not?"

"Fire away."

"I had this husband just a few years back. We're divorced now, by the way. Tragic, I know." she added at the sympathetic look on Anna's face. "Anyway, it was right before we broke up when I found out that he was impotent. You know what? I told him that I didn't give a shit if he was impotent or not, all that mattered was that we were in love."

Pause.

"So why did you two. . .?"

"He was killed in a car accident." Yoko said sullenly. "That's all there is to it."

"Oh, Yoko. . ." Anna said.

"The point I'm trying to make is. . ." Yoko said boldly. "If he doesn't love you if you don't make love to him, then he doesn't deserve to be loved by you at all. Both physically and mentally." she grinned and leaned back in her chair. "Better still, why don't we make a bet starting from now."

"A bet?" Anna said, her eyebrows raised. "On what?"

Yoko grinned at her, pulling out a cigarette out from her pocket and stuffed it into her mouth. "Did you hear the story about a man who was forced to not have sexual intercourse, and was not allowed to masturbate for a year? Well, they put him in the room with a female dog for a test. And guess what? He screwed the pooch. And that was only after three months, as doctors said that any longer and he would have gone insane." Anna's eyes widened. "That's right. Men are animals. Sex is simply for the beast within them. Let's give Yoh a month without sex at and see how he goes."

Anna sighed.

"And what are we going to do? Put him in the room with a dog?"

"Nuh-uh." Yoko said, grinning broadly. "Let's put him in the room with a beautiful young lady. And see how the young man goes. You game?"

Anna paused, yet she already knew the answer within her.

"Yes." she whispered.

"Fantastic." Yoko said, hiding a grin. AWhen's the last time you did** it** with him?"

Anna was quiet.

"Around three weeks ago." she said.

Yoko was taken aback.

"Whoa, you must have been thinking about this for quite a bit."

Anna nodded and blushed.

"Very well, then." Yoko said, inhaling the cigarette into her lungs. "One week more."

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A meal with Kino, Yohmei, Ejio, Sumiko and a man whose shamanic powers were more power than Yoh could ever be was much more loud and cheerful that Hao expected. For one, Yohmei was continuously trying to stuff the others with food, Kino was constantly yelling out loud comments about how distasteful the food was compared to the other day, and finally sullened down when she found a dish that she found to her liking. Nobody dared tell her it was the packed lunch Yohmei brought along. Ejio was talking to Sumiko who was sucking on lemons once again, and Hao noted that Rukio was not rebutting a single thing that Yohmei said, and kept looking at him with such respect in his eye.

Hao took a glance at Rukio who was listening to Yohmei tell him a story before poking Ejio on the shoulder, leaning towards him, causing his tower of shiver dangerously. The boy turned and looked at him with raised eyebrows, which reminded Hao of the pain he had caused. Hao grinned at him sheepishly. "How's it going man?" he said brightly. "Feeling alright?"

Ejio raised his eyebrows before nodding.

"I feel fine." he said.

"That's good." he said, before lowering his voice. "Who is that Rukio person to Yohmei?"

Ejio blinked, and involuntarily looked up at the two speaking people.

"I don't know." he said.

"Then help me find out." Hao said, his voice getting softer and softer by the second.

Ejio raised his eyebrows, before a tiny smirk appeared across his features. "So let me get this straight. . ." he said in a voice softer than a whisper. "You're asking. . .me. . .for help?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Hao muttered at the corner of his mouth. "Well? Can you do it?"

"I guess I could." Ejio said, topping off his tower with a tiny red flag.

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"Me and Pirika are leaving."

There was such a tense air of silence around the coffeehouse that you could practically cut through it. Everyone's eyes were on Horo's face, which once used to be so full of happiness and enthusiasm, now bore nothing but cold sadness and a hollow heart.

"W. . .what do you mean?" Manta asked, his eyes wide.

"There's a trip that me and my family have to take." Horo said quietly. "It takes place every hundred years, and it looks like that time has finally come. We would be here for around a week more before heading off with my father and the others."

"A WEEK?" Ryu gasped. "And when will you be back?"

Ren looked away from the others, to hide the tears that were starting to fall down his face.

Horo turned to Ren before shutting his eyes.

"In around 3 years time, I guess." He whispered.

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Horo Horo opened his front door to greet a grinning Ren. He almost jumped back in fright at the sight of such a cheerful angry Chinese man, but managed to keep his balance. "Whoa, hey man." Horo said, scratching the back of his head, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just dropped by to say hey." Ren said.

"Oh." Horo said dimly. AHey."

"Hey."

An uncomfortable silence.

"Alright, that was just plain gay." Ren said.

"I agree." Horo said feverishly.

"Is. . .Pirika in?" Ren asked, peering behind the blue-haired boy hopefully.

"No, actually." Horo said, and turned around as if to make sure, or to prove a point. "She went out for dinner with my father. I think he wanted her to get used to being around him for a change. We never really bonded well with our dad, you see."

"So why aren't you going there to bond with dad?" Ren asked.

"Ah, well he wanted to speak to Pirika alone today." he said, deliberately avoiding his gaze, before turning back to Ren. "She's really upset, man. I know you were upset at her and everything, but I think it was really mean of you to just walk out on her when she was crying in your room. You're not one who likes dealing with feelings and emotions much, but. . ." he paused. "I thought you would change just that once because she's my sister, and she's. . .well, the girl you love."

Ren bit his lip, the guilt inside him increasing.

"Come on in." Horo said, turning to walk into the house. "The NBA finals should be playing soon. I'll make us some popcorn."

"No, I really think I should. . ." Ren started.

Horo turned, and there was something in his eye that made Ren just want to punch himself across the face for saying something other than what Horo had hoped for. "Ah." Horo said bitterly. "Alright then. Good luck looking for my sister."

"Wait, Horo!" Ren started, but before he knew it, the door of Horo's house slammed in his face.

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Hao and Sumiko walked home in silence.

Hao and Sumiko kept sneaking glances at each other, wondering in their head whether the other person who angry at them or simply waiting for them to start a conversation, and whether they should speak or wait for the other person to start a topic. It was after a few glances when their eyes finally met, and Sumiko looked away, her face turning crimson. Hao sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Who was Rukio to you?" he asked her.

There was such a long breathe of silence that Hao suspected that she was either ignoring him or she had fallen asleep, and was about to give up waiting for an answer when she spoke up. "He was my past boy-friend. My only past boy-friend."

Hao's eyes widened.

_He smiled. "I never heard you laugh before." he said. "Have you ever laughed before?"_

"_Once." she said, turning her heel. "It was with a man I used to love."_

"_Who's that?" he asked._

_She turned around, smiling._

"_I don't think that has anything to do with you, doesn't it?"_

_He blinked before grinning back._

"_No." he said. "I guess it doesn't."_

"He was. . .your boy-friend?"

"Yeah." Sumiko said sullenly.

"I see." Hao said. There was another pause. "Do you still love him?"

There was another silence that followed that, and Hao shut his eyes in defeat, until he felt Sumiko's fingers entwine themselves in his. His eyes widened as he looked down to face her, and it turned into a full-scale blush at the look on her face. There was a smile on it, and as he looked down, she got up on her toes to kiss him across the cheek.

"Of course not." she whispered. "I love **you**, Hao Asakura."

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Yoko stepped out of the lift in the penthouse she entered, and was about to knock on the door of the familiar apartment when she heard just peculiar noises.

"Oh my God. . ." came a woman's moan.

"Oh my God, I'm. . .I'm going to come! Oh my GOD!" came the voice of a young man.

She smirked and waited for a few more minutes before entering the room, and the thick smell of perfume and sweat and roses wafted to her nostrils. The man was nowhere to be seen, but she could hear the sounds of a shower in the background. The man must have not done things very cleanly around here. The only thing she saw was a large four-poster bed, with a woman lying down on it, the blankets draped around her gracefully. The woman of shattering beauty; the face of a woman who all ladies would kill to have, and a body all men would love to simply love to pound into, over and over again. One of her eyes were green, the other was blue. Her hair was blonde and silky, and it was obvious from the look at her that she was from parents from different countries. She was beautiful, but there was something ugly about her that stunk up the place. The smell of a prostitute.

The woman saw her and slowly sat upright, grabbing a cigarette from the table and lit it almost deliberately slowly.

"What do you want?" she said.

"I need you to perform a service." Yoko said to her, lighting herself a cigarette too.

The woman stayed quiet for a moment before raising her eyebrows at the lady before her. "Yeah?" she said finally, after almost half of her cigarette had crumbled into black dust. "And who would it be this time? Whose life do you want destroyed this time?"

Yoko grinned.

"I want you to take away Anna Kyoyuma's man."

The woman's eyes widened before her face split into a grin. "Anna Kyoyuma? That little skanky bitch who prances around the office of yours like the prat that she is just because she's married to the shaman king and that she's the office's assistant manager?"

"Just the one." Yoko said. "Can you do it? Malena?"

Malena seemed to ponder on it for a moment before flicking the cigarette butt onto the floor, getting up from her bed to step on it, showing her naked form; an action that she was so tirelessly used to doing that she didn't even feel embarrased about it anymore. "This should be interesting. Not to mention fantastic for my resume. The woman who stole that Shaman King's heart. It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Undoubtably so." Yoko said, squashing her cigarette into the ashtray beside her.

END CHAPTER 2

How are you feeling readers enjoying the second chapter to the second installment to A GIRL CALLED ANNA? Hopefully I have not yet lost my knack for writing or whatever the Hell I had yet, because of that 6 month long rest. I have to admit, the second installment is much more emotional and dark than the first story, but hey, that's the way sequels are. I'm sorry that there was almost no Aaction" in this chapter either, but I have to build up the plot first. I'm sure you all will understand that. Lolz. Well, things certainly are getting messy. Please look forward to chapter 3!

P.S. In case you didn't read my forward address, please check up on my website to find out the latest news on my postings of Girl Called Anna 2 and stuff. New layout, everyone! Please check it out!


	4. Desperately Clinging Onto The Past

Chapter 3, folks!

CHAPTER 3

Yoh was in careful thought.

Boblove's music was playing peacefully behind him, but at the moment his attention was not on that. Instead, he was looking inside his diary, reverently looking through the entries written inside it, sighing after every flip of the page. Amidamaru was hovering above him, looking down at him. It was until Boblove had finished his latest song when he felt that he just could not bottle up his curiosity anymore. "What are you doing, Yoh-donno?" he asked his master.

"Oh, just looking through my diary entries." Yoh said simply.

Amidamaru flipped a coin to decide whether he should probe further. It was then when he realized that he couldn't have picked up a coin even if he wanted to, being the fact that he was a ghost. So he just gambled in his head and made the decision to just ask the damn question. "And why would you do that?"

"Anna's been acting strangely for the past three weeks." Yoh answered him without even thinking twice about it, flipping a second page of his diary. "That's why I have to find out just what I did before that to make her so angry about me."

"She's been acting strangely?" Amidamaru asked, scratching his transparent head. "Like what? Hasn't she been taking to you at all?"

"Of course she has." Yoh said, sounding more miserable than before. "But that would be normal for her. That kind of Anna I can take, because she would have to speak to me again. That just means she's not altogether angry at me at all. This time. . .it's. . .different." Yoh said, blushing.

"OH?" Amidamaru said tactlessly. "Like?"

"Well. . ." Yoh said, scratching his head. "For quite some time she hasn't. . .you know. . .with me."

Amidamaru raised his eyebrows before they widened. "Oh." he said.

"Yeah." Yoh said. "And not only that, she hasn't kissed me or hugged me at all. Every time I try to touch her she flinches. It's almost as though. . .she doesn't love me anymore."

Amidamaru smiled fondly at his master.

"Of course she loves you, Yoh-donno." he said serenely. "I just think there's something on her mind at the moment. Either that, or you have done something to upset her."

"That's why I'm looking through my diary to see what I've done wrong." Yoh said savagely, before pausing. "Wait a minute. There's an easy way to do this. I remember Anna telling me how Jeanne tried to look into her life through the powers of her shamash. Perhaps she could help me find out a solution for my troubles."

"I guess she could." Amidamaru said.

"You guess who could what?"

They both jumped as Anna appeared from the other end of the sliding door, glaring at the two of them suspiciously. Amidamaru gave his master a final furtive look before soaring up onto the roof of their household. Anna glared at that area where the samurai once hovered before turning to Yoh, brushing back the hair from her face airily. "When the Hell are you going to take off that damn poster from our door, Yoh?" she snapped at him. "And can't you turn off that music? It's boring stupidity into my ears."

"Yes, Anna." Yoh said quietly, snapping the stereo shut.

Anna blinked at the monotonous tone of her husband.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked him.

"I'm fine." Yoh said sullenly, getting to his feet, turning around to face her. "It's just. . ." It was then when he stopped abruptly, suddenly noticing just how close the two of them were standing away from each other. She was looking up at him, and he was pretty sure she could feel his warm breath upon her face.

"Have you been eating ice-cream again?" she asked him softly.

"Yes." he said quietly, their eye contact never breaking.

"I thought I told you to keep eating a balanced meal."

"I'm. . .sorry." he said, bending down to kiss her lips. For a moment she felt the strong desire to his kiss back when she stepped back, just out of his reach. His eyes widened as he stumbled in his step, and looked up at her in painful horror. She turned and switched on the bathroom heater. "I'm going to take a bath." she said silently. "I want you to start doing your daily routine of sit-ups, got it?"

She shut the sliding door behind her.

Yoh shut his eyes, crumpling to the floor.

"Yes." he said softly. "Anna."

On the other side of the wall, Anna shut her eyes painfully, wrapping her arms around herself, her body desiring the touch of her husband. "I'm sorry too, Yoh." she said quietly.

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Hao never thought that he would ever fall in love with a girl besides Anna. He was very much like a loner, and while it seemed like he was a player and on the outside it seemed like he was enjoying every last second of it, inside he felt miserable and alone. Hao slowly walked over to the window in his bedroom that him and Sumiko shared, and looked outside.

"_You're Hao Asakura? God, I heard you're fantastic with the ladies."_

"_Oh my God! It's Hao! Can you please. . .!"_

"_Hao, damn you! You stole away my girl-friend!"_

"_Hao Asakura!"_

"_Hao Asakura!"_

It was then when a faint voice of a woman came out softly.

"_Asakura-kun."_

He blinked and turned around him, but there was nobody there. He sighed and leaned the back of his head against the wall behind him. His past just seemed extremely clear tonight. Perhaps it was because he was in such a lazy mood. He shut his eyes.

_He was in a teahouse one afternoon when suddenly a man sat down across the table from him, five men standing behind him. Hao took a quick glance at them before smiling peacefully. "Good afternoon." he said. "I trust you're here to have a cup of tea with me?"_

"_Damn ass Hell you can bet your life I'm not." the man snarled. "You know who I am?"_

"_Cannot say that I do."_

"_You stole away my girl-friend from me, you little bastard." he growled. "And I'm here to give you the bashing of a lifetime."_

_A smirk slowly formed across Hao's features. "Ah yes, that girl in the silky green dress. How could I ever forget her. She mentioned you. You're that doctor boy-friend of hers, right?" He slowly placed down the cup in his hands. "Please do not worry. Whatever that I find interesting about a woman has already been done with her. Now she is like a shark, a beautiful creature after I cut off her fins." His grin turned into a full-fledged smirk. "I throw her back into the ocean. I have no interest in her anymore. Do with her what you will."_

"_You son of a. . .!" the man roared, but was suddenly thrown back by Hao's unnaturally large spirit force. Hao towered over him, smirking, as he slammed his foot into the man's chest. _

"_Please do not put all the blame on me." he said sullenly. "Your woman is the one who came up to me, asking for my time. She flirted with me, and clearly wanted me to bed her. It was only natural of me to oblige. She was not unwilling. So if you want to vent your anger on someone, vent it on her. And screw her until she does not have the strength to leave you on the bed. How does that sound?"_

_The man spat out blood, and his men started to run to his side when he suddenly started laughing. Hao raised his eyebrows, releasing the pressure from the man's chest. "What the Hell could be so funny at this point of time?" he asked him curiously._

"_Now I see why you like flirting around with the women of other people." the man said, smirking, wiping his chin, ignoring the buzzing of people around him. _

_Hao raised his eyebrows, amused._

"_Yeah?" he whispered. "And why's that?"_

"_Because you don't want to be the only man alone in the universe." he said, and a chill went down Hao's back at his words. "From one meeting with you, and I can already tell what kind of person you are. Or what kind of person you're like." he spat blood on the floor._

"_You're lonely. Desperate for company from being alone."_

"Asakura?"

He was brought sharply back to earth at the sound of Sumiko's voiceand his eyes opened slowly, once more getting used to the light in the room. He turned around to face her, and a thin blush rose upon his face at the sight of her. The moonlight gave her somewhat of an angelic look, her wet hair gleaming in the light, her bathrobe hugging her curves tightly. He paused before chuckling. "I noticed you called me Asakura once more." he said softly. "And here I thought you were simply saying your own sir name."

She smiled softly.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I'm still used to that, I guess."

He looked away.

"Something's been bothering me." he said.

"Yes?"

"The thing that Rukio said about you falling in love with me because I was powerful. Whatever was that about?"

Suddenly, something horribly ugly came across Sumiko's features; like she suddenly became a whole other person, or she was forced to recall something so disgusting and revolting that she could not control her feelings for it internally. But then it was gone. Like the brief kiss of the wind. "It's nothing, Hao." she said sullenly. "Let's go to sleep. I'm very tired."

And the lights died out throughout the house.

But yet, there Hao continued to sit.

The dilemma towering above him never ceasing.

And he was thinking.

Then suddenly his eyes were opened, seemingly for the first time.

And though the house was dark beyond dark; where there was not a flash inside the house. One light finally seemed to brighten.

"I love you, Sumiko." Hao said quietly.

Yet, his sleeping wife did not hear him.

"And I don't want to be alone anymore."

And then, from tiredness, all the lights in the house finally dimmed out.

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There was a carton of milk in the refrigerator.

This certainly was unexpected.

Usually when Tao Jun bought three whole jugs of those, there would only be a quarter left by the end of the week. But this time she had bought only two cartons and there was one left. There was something seriously wrong with this picture. She turned away from the kitchen to see her lovely brother. . .

WHAM

Pause.

WHAM.

Pause once more, to clarify.

WHAM.

She walked outside, and leaned against a nearby tree. "Ren, dear brother, why are you trying to deplete forest life?" she asked, making him stop hammering the tree with his fists in mid-stance. He paused and glared at her. "What do you want, Jun?" he asked her.

"I want to know what's troubling you." she said. "You've been depressed about Pirika and I can understand that, but that doesn't. . ."

"It's not just that." he said solemnly, rubbing his sore knuckles.

She raised her eyebrows.

"Oh?" she asked him. "What else could there be?"

Ren paused before slamming his fists against the tree once more.

"Oh, quit it." Jun snapped.

"I am just. . ." Ren said, turning around to face her. "The worst friend in the world, you know that?" Jun's eyes widened. "I find out that Pirika and her family is going to be away for many years. In fact, we might not be able to see each other again. And not once do I spare a moment of my time with Horo Horo." he fell silent for a moment before sighing. "He's my best friend."

"Then I think you should tell him that." Jun said with a smile.

0000000000000000000000000000000

Jeanne raised her eyebrows at Yoh.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"I know you heard me." Yoh said, a sheepish smile on his face. "I've been having several problems with Anna, so I wanted to borrow shamash for a moment so I could get through all my past memories with her." he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of it."

"It's not about that, Yoh." Jeanne said. "It's just that. . .would this be betraying Anna somehow?"

"By helping her husband who's trying to save their marriage?" Yoh offered.

Shamash bobbed up beside Jeanne, smiling.

Jeanne grinned.

"I guess not." she said.

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Hao entered the café, only to find it completely devoid of people except for a young boy who was piling up a small tower of orange peels. He smirked and walked over to him and sat down across from him. The boy looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Well, you're only ten minutes late." the boy said shrewdly. "How do I know that it's really Hao Asakura standing in front of me?"

"Well, I guess you can simply go by my word." Hao said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Good choice with the place, by the way. The food clearly sucks."

"No, I just used my incredibly strong powers to make sure nobody was able to get inside this place without suddenly feeling simply not hungry, or remembering something incredibly important to do." Ejio said, eating another orange and topped it over the pile of peels.

"Fair enough." Hao said. "Now tell me what I'm supposed to know."

"Why don't you tell me what you want to know first." Ejio said.

Their eyes crossed and both of them suddenly know something about the other that was so incredibly similar to themselves. Almost in perfect co-ordination, the two of them rose from their seats and left the café together, Hao from the front door, and Ejio from the back, both of them carrying a small smirk on their faces, the tower of peels scattered across the table.

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Yoh flipped the diary open to the first page, and nodded at Shamash, who was bobbing up and down over his shoulder, Amidamaru peering at him curiously. "All right, man." Yoh said, waving his palm in the direction of the diary. "Let your little spirit fingers do the job."

Both Amidamaru and Shamash raised their eyebrows at him.

"You know. . .just a. . ."Bring It On" joke, you know." Yoh said sheepishly. "It's a chick movie, but Pirika needed company, so. . .oh, will you just turn this damn thing on.' he finished, blushing furiously.

Shamash grinned.

"_I'm back from the interview." Anna called out from the end of the kitchen, dropping her car keys onto the front table. Yoh and Hao both turned around from the television set, both their hair tied up in a knot. She saw them and raised her eyebrows. "Now," Hao said cockily. "Flip a coin and guess who is your husband, and who's his annoying brother."_

"_Easy. You're Hao Asakura." Anna said. "Now get out of my house."_

"_I can tell when I'm not wanted." Hao said, jumping up from the couch. "I'll see you later, Yoh."_

"_See you in a bit, bro." Yoh said, as Hao slammed the front door shut behind him. Yoh grinned at his wife. "So, Anna, how was the interview?"_

"_It sucked pretty bad, actually." Anna said, sitting down on the couch, sighing. "They said that I was too moody to be a clerk. Who the Hell wants a happy clerk anyway?" she paused for a moment. "Who's playing?"_

"_What?" Yoh asked, confused._

"_The game." she said, pointing to the television screen._

"_Oh, it's one of those old NBA games." Yoh said. "Michael Jordan was still dominating. His game against the Boston Celtics will always be one of my favourite games_. _In fact," he continued enthusiastically. "I think it was even better than his game in the conference finals against. . .I do not care about that and I will continue to talk about your bastard of a boss." he finished quickly at the venomous look on Anna's face._

_He walked over and hugged her around the waist, resting his chin on her shoulder, taking in a deep smell of her perfume. In the past she would have slapped him for that, but this time, she simply sighed contently and pouted slightly. "It's alright, Anna." he said soothingly. "There are plenty of jobs out there. If you suck at every one of them, then perhaps you could give me one."_

"_What?" she said. "Don't you mean 'you give **me** a job?'"_

"_Think Hao-ish, Anna." he said coyly._

"_That doesn't make sense." she said. "Because the only job I can give to a guy is a bl-. . ." then she stopped, whipping her hand across Yoh's face. "Dirty male." she said._

"_Can't help it when my wife's the hottest lady alive." he said._

"_Oh, shut up." she said miserably. "You don't mean that."_

"_Of course I do." he said, pressing his lips against her cheek softly. She smiled and turned her head to kiss him back. Soon his hands were down to the buttons on her shirt, slowly and expertly flicking them open. "God, what the Hell are you doing?" she said, amused. "It's in the afternoon, and I'm definitely sure that your dear brother left the damn front door unlocked."_

"_Then I guess anyone can come in here." Yoh said mildly, brushing her shirt off her shoulders, leaving her in nothing but a dress and a black lacy bra. He sucked in breath at the sight before unhooking it and tossing it over his shoulder. "That's the bra I bought for you for Christmas, wasn't it?" he whispered while sucking at her breasts hungrily._

"_Yeah." Anna said, gasping for breath. "It fits well."_

"_That's always good news." he whispered, his fingers delving into her skirt, brushing them against her underwear, his face fixed with concentration. "Black, lacy, from Victoria's Secret." he said, grinning broadly._

"_Well if you're so sure with yourself," she whispered, tracing his jaw with her finger. "Why don't you find out if your deduction's correct?"_

"_I'm pretty sure of that." he said, grinning broadly, pulling her from the couch, earning a gasp from her as she found herself directly on top of him, his hands in her skirt, smiling at her._

"_Nice move." she said. "Still taking lessons from Hao?"_

"_If I were, I won't tell you so I can gain the full credit." he said._

"_Bravo for that." she said, smirking, pressing her lips against his, earning a hungry moan from him. He pulled down her underwear past her legs, and she stepped out of them gently so he could bring it before his face. He grinned victoriously. "So it** was **black." he said in triumph._

"_Well done, warrior." she said, grinning, unzipping his trousers. "And to say thank you to you. . .I'm going to give you a gift."_

"_Is it a new Boblove CD?" he asked hopefully._

"_It's definitely not that." she said throatily, and he gulped. "Interested?"_

"_Hell, yes." he growled._

"_Then here we go." she muttered._

_It was as she was down where his zipper used to be, doing some amazing illegal things to him when suddenly Ejio and Sumiko entered from the front door. "Ah, ah. . .Anna, you might want to stop now. . ." he said nervously._

"_No, I'm not yet done with you yet." she said, greedily milking him._

'_Michael Jordan is going for the ultimate finish now," the announcer at the television said. "Will anyone be able to stop this player from coming in?"_

"_Anna. . .please. . ." he whimpered._

"_You know what the say, Yoh. . ." Anna said, smirking at him as sounds of Sumiko and Ejio came from the front door. "The best is yet to come."_

_The grabbed her hair and yelled out her name, spraying himself all over her._

Yoh was brought sharply back to life with two spirits staring at him, and extremely constricted pants. He sighed. "Nope, Anna was not angry at me then." he said, scratching the back of his head. "I wonder what she could be upset about?"

"Keep looking, Yoh-donno." Amidamaru said confidently.

Shamash nodded.

Yoh smiled.

"Of course I will." he said.

Outside the window, a young prostitute woman watched him, a small smirk forming on her face.

"Yoh Asakura, shaman king." she whispered, licking her lips. "This is definitely going to be interesting."

END CHAPTER 3

Please check out my website for further details and notices, to find out the latest news about jack-adam and his stories. Please also visit "geniusconfiguration. the online blog. :P Thanks! Look forward to chapter 4, and please read and review!


	5. One Last Time

Chapter 4 is up and for everyone to see. smiles Sorry for all of you for making you wait, but I'm back, and this chapter is to prove that.

CHAPTER 4

_It was like a fortress of ice and fire, the entire area seemed to be covered with the complete contrasts of each other in nature; it was cold. It was so cold, and yet at the same time it was so blazing hot. _

_Anna found herself standing directly across from a horrifying scene. Hao was standing there before a deep, desolate hole. Yet it didn't seem like just any ordinary hole. It looked, to her horror, like something ready to swallow him in. _

_Anna's eyes widened. _

_It was Hell's mouth. _

_And Hao turned to her, a small, weary smile on his face, blood trickling down from his mouth. "Take care of Sumiko." He whispered softly._

And it was at this moment when Anna woke up from a horrible nightmare.

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There was no light that shone into the room besides the single beam that was a pitiful contrast to the devastating darkness that swallowed the place from ceiling to floor. One single person sat in the middle of that room, his eyes shut, his legs crossed, his face oddly calm despite the passing events.

"Sumiko has actually gone along with getting married to Hao Asakura." Rukio muttered, his voice escaping his lips in a dull hiss.

This young man was alone

He was always alone.

He opened a lazy eye as he heard the passing of people past his apartment before shutting his eyes again. "Sumiko and I are meant to be together." He muttered under his breath angrily, a thin layer of ice spreading from his fingers onto the floor. "What the Hell does Hao Asakura have that I don't?" His eyes burst open, a thin grin crossing his features as the blanket of ice burst into spikes, covering him in a castle of frozen water.

"Nothing." He hissed. "Nothing at all." He clenched his fists, and a ball of fissured water floated above his hand. "If she's with him just because of his power. . ." he released his hand, and the water burst into a million pieces above it, splattering to the floor.

"Then I'll be ready to kill him to get to her."

Outside his house, there stood Hao and Ejio, hands in their pockets.

"Can't believe you were able to find out where he lives." Hao said. "It's easy for someone like me." Ejio said lazily. He looked up at Hao who now had a small smirk on his face. "I fail to see what makes you happy. There's a lunatic man who wants to kill you to get to your wife." Then his eyebrows rose. "Unless you have a plan cooked up." He paused for a moment, as though waiting for an answer, then he continued. "Do you. . .?"

"You'll just have to find out along with the others, don't you?" Hao said, a full-formed smirk appearing on his face now. Ejio paused before nodding his head.

"Good luck." He whispered under his breath.

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Pirika was inside her room, her eyes shut.

"Ren." She whispered.

"Yeah?" he said behind her quietly.

Her eyes widened as she turned around to come face-to-face with him, his usually cold eyes now bearing concern within them. She opened her mouth to speak but he silenced her with his lips, and the next moment they were all over each other, undressing each other in such hungry desire that one would have wondered how long it was since they had last done this. "I love you." He groaned out, practically ripping her shirt off.

"I love you too." She moaned, pushing his shirt off his shoulders. "And when are you leaving, again?" he growled as she helped him out of his pants, and he pulled her underwear off, situating himself between her legs. "In. . .in around five days." She whispered between clenched teeth. "Then we've still got time." He said, thrusting in and out of her, earning encouraging whimpers and gasps from her.

"Y. . .yes." she said. "We've got to spend as much time together as we can." He said, pulling her close to him, pumping into her with everything he had within himself, her fingernails digging so deep into his skin he was sure blood was soon to come, but at the moment he just didn't give a damn.

"What do you say to that?"

"I. . .I would love that." She moaned, gripping onto his hair in ecstasy. "That's perfect." He said, smiling slightly. "But for the moment, I just want to fuck the living hell out of you." He said, smiling at her.

"If you still have the energy for at least 5 orgasms." She said, managing a small smirk.

"I'm sure I'll be able to manage." He said, grinning.

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Malena sat in a corner of the diner, her eyes shifting from the food before her to the couple that was just a few tables away from her. That couple was none other than Yoh and Anna. She brought the coffee cup from the table to her lips before placing it back down gently, pursing her lips as she continued to survey their actions. Yoko, who was sitting vertically across from her with her back facing the couple, grinned at her excitedly.

"Well?" she asked Malena, her tongue darting out to lick her lips. "What's going on? Do they seem much like a happy couple? A sad one? What?"

"Calm down, or put on a bib." Malena said irritably before jotting down several notes. "From what I see, the two of them have trust in each other. There's nothing much at the moment, but I know that they at least have the faint showing of trust."

"How do you know?" Yoko asked her.

"You spot these kinds of things after surveying couples for a long time." Malena said tiredly. "If they fight for the bill or not, does he wait until she takes the first bite of the food, does he ask her what she wants to eat, does she tell him to sit upright. . . that sort of thing." She chewed her bottom lip. "And I think that the two of them are very much in love. There just seems to be something pushing them apart from each other, and I just can't put my finger onto it."

"Oho, funny story." Yoko said jauntily. "I can explain that."

"Please do." Malena said shrewdly.

"Well, I told her to not have close contact with her husband for about a week to test his endurance without sex, and see if he would cheat on her if another woman came before him."

"Which would be me."

"Damn straight." Malena sighed. "The man's going to break Anna's heart for sure." She said.

"Perfect." Yoko said, grinning.

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Hao sat down in front of Yoh's front porch, looking up at the skies emotionlessly, and it near seemed like he was about to fall asleep when Sumiko touched his shoulder gently when he was awoken from his drowsy slumber. "You've been spacing out the entire day, Hao." She said to him quietly. "Is something wrong?"

Hao paused for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah." He said. "I'm just thinking of a way to get rid of that ex-boyfriend of yours."

my husband right there." She said simply. They both looked at each other for a minute before sharing a smile; a smile that was shared to nobody else besides each other. A look of confidence, a glimpse of a secret, a pass of trust. "You can beat him by your power alone, Hao." She said to him.

"I know that." He said. "He has a bigger Spirit than me, but in terms of experience and power, he comes nowhere near me." He gave her a confident smile. "But it's no fun to defeat someone in areas of power. I got bored of that after the Shaman Fight." He tapped the side of his head with a finger, grinning at her. "I like to defeat people with my intellect."

"And cunning." She continued for him.

"Yes, that too." Hao said, grinning broadly. "And I'm not bad at both, I have to admit. I think that I could have stole Anna away from Yoh if I had put my full heart into it." Sumiko's face turned suddenly sullen, and he added quickly, "But I'm glad I didn't. Or I wouldn't have met you." He finished with a quick squeeze of her hand, smiling at her.

"Yeah." She said solemnly. "I guess not." He looked away for a moment when suddenly a question popped into his head, and he turned to look straight into her eyes. "Why are you so keen on getting rid of this person if you fell in love with him before?" he asked her. "Must be quite painful for you." Sumiko glared at him with such senseless anger that Hao flinched, wondering if he had said something wrong. But then it was gone, and there was that impassive look upon her features once more. "I loved him before." She said softly. "But that was ages ago."

He stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "I see." He said.

There was a long pause that seeped into their past conversation, and Sumiko opened her mouth to say something when Hao brought a lemon up to her lips. She blinked, and he grinned at her. "In the mood for one of these, Sumiko?" he asked her.

She looked at him curiously before a small tinge of blush appearing across her features. "Yes," she said. "Thank you."

"Now." He said, placing an arm on her shoulder gently. "Guess what I'm in the mood for?"

"Sexual intercourse?" she said.

"That too," he said. "But I was hoping we could sit here like this for a while."

Her eyes widened before she smiled softly. "Yeah." She said. "I would like that very much too."

0000000000000000000000000000000

Yoh sighed and looked away from the work at hand and rubbed his eyes tired. Shamash and Amidamaru bobbed up to him, curious looks on their faces. "Are you alright?" Amidamaru asked his Master.

"I'm fine." Yoh said, rubbing his forehead. "Jeanne said that I could look at at most five memories at once; any more without rest and I would suffer a severe migraine."

"And how many have you. . ."

"Twelve." Yoh said, popping pills into his open mouth.

"And?" Amidamaru asked.

"Can't seem to find much." Yoh said. "It might be because of that one time she offered to bring me to a lobster dinner, but I had tons of work to do, and we rescheduled it to another day. That was the worst thing I did to her so far."

"That sucks, Yoh-donno." Amidamaru said. "

Sure does." Yoh said gloomily. Then he shook his head resolutely. "Never mind. I still have plenty more days to look into. That should give me somewhat of an idea." He swallowed the pills before nodding at Shamash, and it nodded back at him. "This should bring me a month back." Yoh muttered under his breath.

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FLASHBACK

_Yoh was watching television when Anna entered the household, looking tired. _

_He smiled at her. _

_"Well?" he asked her cheerfully. "How was your first day on the job?" _

_Anna dropped down next to him, stressed. _

_"Fantastic." She said sarcastically. "It was not only boring, but horrible for my back. I don't know how much more of this I can take." _

_Yoh blinked. _

_"First days are always like that." _

_"No, they aren't." Anna snapped. _

_Yoh wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey, nobody said life was easy. Hell, it was you who told me to keep on going strong in the Shaman Tournament. You never left my side once, and I'm going to do the same to you." He grinned at her. "Just take every day one step at a time. . .and you'll somehow manage when you finally get used to it." _

_Anna smiled. "Yeah." She said. "Thanks."_

END FLASHBACK

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"That can't be the one." Yoh said resolutely, canceling out a date on his calendar. "I know I'm not one supposed to judge, but I think I was being a pretty damn good husband right there."

He looked up to Shamash once more.

"Okay, Shamash. Give me the next one."

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FLASHBACK

_The time was around midnight. _

_Yoh had prepared a dinner for Anna; a late dinner, seeing that she was going to be released from the office late. _

_Sure enough, she came back, looking tired and forlorn. He smiled at her. _

_"Hey." He said. "I got you dinner." He said to her cheerfully. _

_"Oh?" she said, looking at it. "Great. I'm starving." _

_He grinned at her and helped her into her chair. "So what happened at work today?" he asked. _

_"A new person came into the office." Anna said lazily, chomping through fried chicken. "Her name's Yoko. Seems to be like a nice person." _

_"That's always good." He said, grinning at her. _

_Anna paused for a moment before swallowing the chicken in her mouth. _

_"Yoh." She said quietly. _

_"Yeah?" he said. _

_"Can I ask you a question?" _

_"Shoot." He said._

_ "What would you do if I got fat and ugly?" _

_He raised his eyebrows. _

_"What do you mean?" _

_"I mean. . ." she said, embarrassed, her face turning crimson. "Would you still want to. . ." _

_"To?" he enquired. _

_"God, you're so stupid." She muttered. "Would you still want to. . .have sex with me?" _

_His eyes widened, finally fully understanding the question, then he did the worst thing a person could ever do. He started to laugh. Her eyes widened as she watched him. "God, Anna, that's the weirdest question you've ever asked me." He said, his laughter slowly ebbing away. Her shocked expression faded away with his laughter, and a smile appeared on her face. It was not a smile of happiness, or a false one either. _

_"Yeah." She said bitterly. "Stupid question." _

_"Uh-huh." He said. Then he pointed at the food before her. "C'mon, eat." He said. "Or it's going to get cold." _

_"You can always heat it up." She said throatily, getting to her feet, and placing herself on top of him. _

_"W. . .what are you doing?" he asked, the heat rising to his cheeks. _

_"What do you think I'm doing?" she whispered, pressing kisses onto his face, finally ending with his lips, her tongue licking his earlobe, sending shivers down his spine. "I want you to make love to me." She said. "More specifically, I want you to fuck the Hell out of me." _

_"A. . .Anna. . ." he said, his eyes widening. _

_"C'mon." she said. "Or are you already bored with me?" _

_He grinned and kissed her fully on the lips, at the same time unbuttoning her clothes. "Of course not." He said, swooping down to place tender kisses on her breasts, taking off her bra gently. "Good, then." She said, cradling him in her arms. "But don't tell me." She removed the constriction of his pants. "Show me." _

_He practically slammed her down on the table, dragging off her underwear and skirt off her impatiently, coming to the sight of his naked wife. He licked his lips in carnal hunger, and she shivered under the raptous look in his eyes. _

_"I want you." He moaned, taking his shirt off. _

_She licked her dry lips. "I want you too." _

_They made love passionately; and for just a split second there, they became one person, sharing the same beat, sharing the same rhythm, sharing the same pulse, sharing the same heart. _

_It was as he felt his limit reaching when he gripped onto her tightly, looking deep into her eyes. _

_"I love you." And it was then when something caught in her throat, as though she was so full of ecstasy that she did not understand his words, or that she understood him, but simply could not say it back to him. She swallowed, and a single tear fell from her face. _

_"I love you too." _

_He held onto her, ever so tightly, ever so passionately, and sunk into her again and again, hearing her ecstatic cries, her encouraging moans, her lustful whimpers, her tireless gasps. There was something so special about this time that he just could not put his finger on. Maybe it was because there was no playing this time. No teasing, no talking, no conversation. They were one. Just two people in such love that no talk was necessary. _

_I love you. _

_And as they two of them drew the same breath and gasped at the same time, they both came together. At the same moment, at the same time. _

_00000000000000000000000000000000 _

_"God, that was amazing." Yoh whispered, cradling Anna close to his chest, the two of them naked on the floor together. _

_Anna smiled softly and pressed a kiss onto his neck. _

_"Yeah, I guess it was." She said quietly. "Wouldn't you wish for your last time to be like that?" _

_"Damn Hell I would." He said, grinning, patting her head. She looked away from him. _

_"Even if it isn't with me?" she said quietly. _

_"What did you say?" he asked. _

_"Didn't hear you there." She kissed him full on the lips, like a silencer, or as an act of gratitude. _

_Or of a goodbye. _

_"Nothing." She said. She paused for a moment. "I love you." She said. "There's nobody in the world that I care for more other than you." _

_She shut her eyes, as though concealing tears. _

_"I really do love you." _

_He pulled her to him. "I know, Anna." He said soothingly. "I love you too. Nobody else." But her tears would not stop falling. And Yoh just could not figure out why._

END FLASHBACK

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Yoh opened his eyes.

"Was that is?" he whispered to himself. "Why was she crying?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before his eyes widened.

_"A new girl came into the office today. Her name's Yoko."_

"That's what Anna said the day when she was acting weird." He said.

He glared up at the skies.

"Who the Hell is this Yoko person?"

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"So I'll just tell you I've found out." Ejio said to Hao calmly, eating sukiyaki on sticks, and building a tower of them. "All I know about Rukio is that his full name is Rukio Makoto, and he escaped from Hell just recently, and had to slice through the Devil to do that. He specializes in ice summoning, and attracted the Spirit of Water when he accomplished in getting out of Hell."

He pulled the stick from inside his mouth and stuck the edge of a tissue paper at the end like a flag. "He. . ." he swallowed, as though he was forced to swallow a bitter gourd in whole.". . .used to go out with my sister."

"You seem to dislike him quite a bit." Hao said, his eyebrows raised. "Care to tell me everything that you known about him?"

"I would rather not." Ejio said sourly. "

Oh, come on." Hao snapped impatiently. "There are just so many ways that I can defeat this guy, but you know the way I roll. I want to know everything about him first."

"Sounds like you want to date him." Ejio said.

"Insulting your sister's husband's manhood. Not a smart decision, Ejio." Hao said, his lips twitching.

Ejio gave him an ugly look before sighing. "My sister and him got together long ago." He said haughtily. "He fell for her, and started wooing her for many months before she finally agreed to go out with him. Until now I still don't know why she agreed to go out with him, let alone get engaged to him."

Hao rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Huh." He muttered.

"One other thing, Hao-san." Ejio said. "There's something important that I think you should know about not only me and Sumiko, but every oracle in the world."

"Oracle?" Hao asked curiously.

"Yes." Ejio said, almost terrifyingly serious. "Every oracle has the power to withstand ages and years without dying. When they die in one lifetime, they can choose either to be reborn in the second lifetime, or to die peacefully. However, this gift is taken away from you in only one possible situation."

"Which is?" Hao asked, his throat dry.

Ejio looked up at him.

"When they falls in love with a person who isn't an oracle."

Hao's eyes widened. "So. . .so Sumiko is. . .?"

"I think that Rukio thought that if Sumiko fell for him then she would lose that power within her. You see, when that thing was lost, it would still be inside the oracle's body. All you had to do was kill the oracle and you would then gain eternal life. However, Sumiko was still too strong for Rukio at that time, and he was unable to kill her." Ejio suddenly looked forlorn and tired. "The only person able to extract the gift from inside the oracle is the person she fell in love with in the first place. That would, I suppose, at the moment be you." Ejio looked up at him. "So as long as Sumiko keeps her heart to yours alone, she will not be able to be touched by him."

Hao paused. "So is that why Rukio wanted to go to Hell for? To gain enough power to get the gift out of Sumiko?"

"Yes." Ejio said. "If one's power is more than five times greater than the defense boundaries of the oracle, then I guess it's possible for Rukio to extract it from inside her." Ejio looked up at Hao, glaring. "I'll kill you if you fail to protect my sister, Hao Asakura."

"Don't worry." Hao said, clenching his fists. "I won't let him touch her."

"That's good." Ejio, seeming to relax a bit.

"Hold on." Hao said. "So why does Rukio keep talking about Sumiko liking being around powerful men? And that 'no wonder Sumiko fell for' me?"

"That's how polluted and corrupted that man's thinking is." Ejio said. "He thinks that she wanted the exact same things as him. Thing is. . .there's no longlivity for men. It's only for women."

Hao's eyes widened. Suddenly he realized why Yohmei was so cocky before Rukio, and why Rukio was so afraid of him.

"Yohmei is still an oracle!" Hao gasped. "That's why Rukio isn't afraid of Kino, because she lost her gift while falling in love with Yohmei!"

"My thoughts exactly." Ejio said. "That's exactly what I thought he was so scared about. A true oracle. That's something I'm not at the moment, so he has no fear of me." He looked up. "Rukio's going to do everything to get you out of the way. I don't think he's after Sumiko's heart. He's after her soul." Hao's expressions darkened into a milky soil of black hatred. "I'm not going to let him do anything to her." He said coldly.

"Protect her with your life, then." Ejio said finally, reaching the thirteenth layer of his tower of stick before smashing it to the floor beneath him.

Silence.

"I'm not cleaning that up." Hao said.

"Me neither." Ejio said flatly.

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Anna could sense that Sumiko was thinking about something.

Her face was tensed up as she looked out the window, chewing sullenly on the lemon wedged between her lips. Anna knew she was having troubles of her own at the moment; juggling the fact that she was extremely horny due to a month without sexual contact with her husband, and her horribly realistic dream of Hao's death, but it seemed terribly minimal by the look of constrained worry on Sumiko's face. Anna took a cup of tea and drew it up to her lips, drinking it calmly before putting it down on the table.

"Penny for your thoughts." She said mundanely.

Sumiko grimaced.

"You don't just give a coin to Leonardo Da Vinci to paint you a collage."

Anna nodded to herself mutely, getting off her feet to sit next to Sumiko. "Something must be going wrong for you." She said.

"Not really." Sumiko said plainly. "Besides the fact that my ex-fiancée wants to kill my husband to get to me, but I've been in worse situations before. It's just that. . .I've been having these horrible dreams."

"Really?" Anna said nervously. "Like what?"

"Well. . .of Rukio and my past together." Sumiko said sullenly, and Anna let out the breath that she was holding. "I mean. . .it was horrible as long as it had lasted, and now that that does not seem to be enough, it's coming back to haunt me in my dreams."

"What kind of past have you had with Rukio?" Anna questioned. Sumiko fell silent. And Anna was smart to not answer further.

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Yoko was alone in her office, and was just about ready to leave home when she heard the silent shuffling of feet behind her. She turned around curiously, her eyes widening at who she saw, and smiled, licking her lips. "Well, well, look what we have here." She muttered under her breath. "Look who came all the way here to visit me. What do you want with my presence, dearest Shaman King?"

Yoh Asakura towered over her, suddenly becoming an infinitable unmovable object that was at the same time billowy and easily to be taken away by the lightest of winds. He stood at the one place that stopped her from being able to escape from him; one of his hands putting a strong hold on the door, the other in his pocket. "I take you already know who I am, and who my wife is." He said to her quietly.

"Yes, I do." She said brightly. "Anna, isn't it? She's a close friend of mine."

"That's great." Yoh continued. "And how long have you. . ."

"Quit the crap and ask me what you want to ask me." Yoko said, lips twitching. "You're trying to waste my time will you read my mind with that spirit of yours behind me." Shamash, who was behind her, blinked surprisingly. "Just tell me what you want to say. I won't bite." She licked her lips. "Of course, unless you ask me to, of course." Yoh paused before nodding resolutely at Shamash, which popped into thin air. He turned his attention to the lady before him.

"Clearly you're not as innocent as you play yourself to be."

"I never liked the whole 'innocent maiden' role." Yoko said calmly.

"And I never cared to act that way." She looked up at Yoh, a calm smirk caressing her lips. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Is your memory good?"

"I'll say it's fairly clear."

"What did you speak to my wife about during the first day you two met?"

Yoko blinked, a confused expression appearing between her brows before she finally understood his hidden question, and shrugged her shoulders, concealing the grin under her falsely concerned features. "How should I know?" she said. "That's around a month back, I can't think all that way back." She looked up at him. "Why? Something going wrong between you and the missus?"

There was something about her tone that he did not like.

"No." he said. "Nothing at all."

"That's great, then." She said, stepping right up to him, her stale breath of cigarettes painfully evident by the closeness of their lips. "Now get out of my way. I don't want to reach home late." He glared at her for a moment before lowering his hand, and she stepped past him.

"Have a nice day, Yoh." She said as she faded from view. Yoh gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. "Have a great day too." He muttered.

END CHAPTER 4

A chapter full of reminiscence. What's with Anna's dream? What's Sumiko and Rukio's past? How is Ren and Horo's friendship going to be? And how is Ren and Pirika's relationship going to be? Who will get Sumiko? Hao or Rukio? Things tense up further in chapter 5. Please forward to it!


	6. The New Step

Chapter 5 is up and ready. God, this is draining me. AGCA 1 was nowhere near as stressful to make as AGCA 2. I guess I'm still not used to continuations yet. takes deep breath But I've finally got the full plan of the story going along with the conclusion, Hao and Rukio's plans, Anna's dreams. . .it's taken a while, and it's finally done. So please show me your support everyone and please READ AND REVIEW!!!!! Thank you! Chapter 5, everyone.

CHAPTER 5

"Ooh, that would be a nice way to do it."

"That's awful, man. What will we need fifty barrels of monkeys for?"

"I'd choose monkeys over dogs any day."

"You would."

"Who was the one who suggested either of them, anyway?"

"Guys, quit it." Manta snapped. "This is going to be a complete waste of everyone's time if we don't make proper decisions on what to do for Pirika and Horo's going away party."

"How about this," Ren said, thumping his chest with pride. "I'll make a hundred moon cakes to go around for everyone to share and eat."

"You're practically drooling, Ren." Jun said to her brother calmly.

"Not to mention sweating." Pirika said, mopping his brow lovingly.

"And convulsing." Hao added helpfully.

"Moon cakes can be shipped in from China if you want. . ." Manta said, calmly scribbling onto the piece of paper hurriedly as the front of Ren's hair started to lengthen.

"Absolutely not!" Ren roared, slamming his fist against the table, earning several worried looks from Yoh and the others and several other customers in the coffee house. "I will personally make them, with my Chinese pride and my sweat and toil that will make it fresh and pumped with taste and love!"

"That's just weird." Yoh said.

"Those moon cakes will be full of a lot of sweat if Ren keeps going on like this." Ryu said, rubbing his chin.

"Might add to the taste." Sumiko said dryly.

"You think so?" Ryu asked.

"You're asking the girl who only ate lemons for the whole of her life. I won't count on it." Horo said dryly.

"That's why rice made from farmers taste so good. Because they had to work ages for it." Ejio continued for Sumiko, earning a pat from Ryu on the back.

"You can make moon cakes if you want." Jun said to her brother fondly.

"Why moon cakes, though?" Lyserg asked curiously.

"Because they taste good, stupid." Ren snapped.

"Not to mention it's the only thing that he can make." Horo said, grinning.

"You have no right to say that to me." Ren snarled.

"Moon cakes can be made by Ren." Manta said, writing it down quickly. "Alright, what else?"

"I like mandarins." Yoh said.

"Why. . .?" Lyserg started curiously.

"Because they're orange." Anna said boredly.

"Sumiko likes lemons." Hao said fondly, toying with his wife's hair fondly.

"Why?" Yoh asked, curious of the secret origin of Sumiko's love for lemons.

"Because they taste good." Sumiko replied sullenly while Hao laughed.

"I can make some assorted dishes if you want." Ryu said, pumping his chest with pride.

"That's a good idea, actually." Anna said, nodding approvingly. Ryu was one of those chefs that actually received the trust and respect from Anna. Manta nodded and wrote that down along with the others. Horo smiled at the others and drink his coffee fondly. "I don't know how to thank you guys." He said. "I've never been moved much, but I'm damn near close to tears now."

"Pinch your arm." Faust said calmly. "Takes the pain away from your heart. Even just slightly. This rarely works though, and it might just have you ended up with a lot of pain in both your arm and heart. I once tried, and the end result wasn't quite what I expected." He grinned at Horo with that odd grin of his, a strange glint in his eye. But you're welcomed to prove my theory wrong."

"That wouldn't be necessary." Horo said nervously.

"That's a pity." Faust said, as Eliza patted her husband on the back. "The world can never have too little guinea pigs."

Manta let out an involuntary shiver.

"Ooh, let's have some pork!" Pirika squealed happily, clapping her hands together. "I haven't had pork in such a long time!"

"We ate char siu last week, Pirika." Ren said dryly.

"Pork it shall be." Manta muttered under his breath.

"Can we have some cake too?" Hao said. "I don't know about you guys, but I always like eating cake whenever there's a party going down."

"I. . .I can make some if you like." Tamao said softly.

"That's great!" Horo said enthusiastically, patting her on the back. She gasped a little, her face turning crimson, and hid her head under the table. The others raised their eyebrows at her.

"Ostrich." Anna muttered under her breath.

"Have any of you eaten ostrich eggs before?" Jun said happily. "They taste really good. Of course, they're very small and look like droppings, but still, the yolk's really tender and sweet."

"I can make the eggs if you want." Ren said gladly.

"What are you going to do, expel them out of your ass?" Horo said wittingly.

The others laughed as Ren got red in the face, and Horo smiled at him, a smile that was tired, reminiscent, happy and upset.

"I'm just joking, man." Horo said. "Just like I always do."

Ren paused and turned his attention back to Manta.

"Let's have sandwiches too." He said.

"And pizza!" Horo called out.

"Barbequed steak!" Hao said enthusiastically, fire emitting from his hands.

"Luncheon meat!"

"Salsa!!!"

"Fried tofu!"

And as the others simply kept calling out random delicacies and dishes, there was a very special moment that passed all of them; and every single person at the table silently and not verbally wished that the clock would just stop; and give them a bit more time.

Even if it was just for a little while.

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Yoh and Anna walked home in silence.

Anna was sullenly drinking the cup of take-away coffee in her hands, while Yoh simply gazed up at the sky nonchalantly. It was not a first for this to happen with Anna, for she was always a silent one. But for Yoh to say nothing. . .especially at a time like this. . .was simply. . .

"Something on your mind?" Anna asked her husband quietly.

He paused for a minute; continuing to look up at the skies above before looking down to face her. "Yeah." He said softly. Her eyes stared back into his. Then he looked away from her. "I went your office previously." He said sullenly. "I met your friend Yoko."

She blinked before shutting her eyes. "Is that so?' she said, taking a sip of coffee. "What did the two of you talk about?"

A rumble sounded in the skies; a signification of bad weather.

"You." He said softly.

Her eyes widened, her hold on the cup loosening before she held herself and drank out of it again, simmering her thoughts.

"I see."

He smiled and nodded, looking back up at the skies again.

"Yoh." She spoke, and he turned to her once more. All the attention that she needed and wanted was in that look. All in one look. And all she had to do now was to. . .

"Awww, look at the lovely couple."

The two of them blinked and look straight again to find themselves trapped within a large glacier, a lone man standing before them. Yoh blinked. "Wow." He muttered. "Cold."

"That's not the point, idiot!" Anna snapped.

Rukio laughed and took a step towards them, his hands in his pockets. "You must be Yoh Asakura." He said calmly, holding his strides carefully. "I heard about you taking on the Devil in Hell. Clearly you're not as weak as you make yourself look to be."

"You seem pretty strong too." Yoh said good-naturedly. "To produce such a strong amount of ice without me even noticing. . .clearly you're on a level higher than Horo Horo or Ejio."

Rukio grinned.

"Thanks for the comment." He said smugly.

"You're still nowhere near Hao Asakura, though." Anna said harshly, slicing the smirk off Rukio's face, and he turned to her. "You may have a bigger and flashier Spirit, but Hao's Spirit of Fire has been through more than your Spirit of Water could hope for." She glared at him. "And he'll cut you in half."

Rukio's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Anna. . ." Yoh said soothingly.

"Anna?" Rukio said, blinking. Then he grinned, licking his lips. "Ah." Rukio said. "The infamous Anna Kyoyuma. I've heard quite a lot about you." There was a strange glint in his eye. "You're in the way."

"So are you." Anna said menacingly. "Care to step aside?"

But yet Rukio did not budge.

"I see." Anna murmured, her hands on her beads.

"Don't, Anna." Yoh said calmly, stepping in front of her. Rukio blinked as Yoh took a step towards him, Amidamaru appearing behind him. "You have a motive to talking to the two of us, and it seems like you're no stranger to my brother." Rukio continued to smirk smugly. "I have nothing against you, and I see no reason to attack you." Yoh said calmly. "However, if you take one more step towards Anna. . ."

Anna's eyes widened and Rukio blinked.

The towering blade of Amidamaru's smashed down next to Rukio, slicing the road next to him down in half. His eyes widened. Yoh glared at him. "The next blade will be aimed for your head."

There was silence for a moment before the glacier around them faded into the wind, and Anna let go of the beads around her neck. Rukio smiled falsely benignly. "As expected from the brother of the great Hao Asakura." He said softly. "You're strong."

"Not as strong as Anna, anyway." Yoh said, laughing good-naturedly.

A small smile filled Rukio's face; a smile that Anna did not like. It was the exact same smile that Hao did when he knew something the others did not know. The smirk of a winner, the smug look of a man before taking one more step to victory. "I know." Rukio muttered. "She's in the way. Not you."

"Huh?" Yoh questioned.

"Nothing." Rukio said, turning away from them. "Just came to drop by a greeting to see what the brother of Hao Asakura was like." His hands fell back into his pockets as the Spirit of Water picked him up, towering slowly away. "And I also wanted to see what girl Hao would pick Sumiko second place to." A small smirk fell onto his face. "Kind of like killing two birds with one stone, eh?"

Killing.

Death.

The swirling whirlpool that started and ended everything.

From the top to the very end.

_The setting was almost. . .exactly the same as her dream._

_The ice, the pain, the pure stench of. . ._

"You okay, Anna?" came Yoh's soft question.

She looked up at him emotionlessly, and he smiled benevolently down at her.

"Yeah." She answered. "I'm fine."

He nodded and turned to walk away. "Let's get going then." He said calmly. "I wonder what Ryu's going to cook for us tonight?" Anna stayed silent and Yoh smiled sheepishly and turned to her. "We were interrupted just now." He said, laughing. "What were you trying to tell me?"

Her mouth opened to speak, but somehow she just could not find her own voice.

She turned away. Not for the first time in her life.

"Nothing."

He nodded and turned, continuing his pace, humming yet another irritatingly bouncy Boblove song. Anna watched him leave, his frame seeming ever so vacant and non-existent.

"Wait for me." She whispered under her breath. "Just wait."

And Yoh heard her, slowing down his pace for her to catch up.

00000000000000000000000000000000000

Rukio saw Sumiko sitting alone outside the house that she and Hao shared together, a lemon in her mouth, a book in her hands. He licked his lips and took a step forward. But before he knew it, there was a shuffle of a cloak, and there stood Hao Asakura before him, a look of solemn superiority on his face. "What are you doing in my house, Makoto?" he whispered softly. Rukio smirked, his hands in his pockets, nodding at Hao's wife behind him.

"I came to speak to your wife."

"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible." Hao answered.

"I have a way of making things go the way I want them to." Rukio said silkily.

"Yeah?" Hao said. "That's so funny. So do I."

Rukio smirked before turning around to leave.

"Oh, by the way, Rukio. . ." Hao called out, and the man paused in his step to leave. "I found out about your little plan about taking the gift out of my wife." He smirked and turned around. "That's really amusing that you think that you're strong enough to be at least five times better than Sumiko."

"I'm better than you." Rukio said quietly.

"No, you're not." Hao said plainly. "And say you are. Say, somehow, you've managed to be better than me. Sumiko's not as weak as you think. I'm at most just three times better than her. Two, more like it."

Rukio turned, his expressions livid.

Hao smirked at him.

"You couldn't kill Sumiko even if you wanted to." He said, licking his lips. "And plus, do you really think you can calmly murder the woman you once fell in love with?"

There was no way to explain how murderously Rukio looked at Hao, but he just turned away and disappeared past the entrance of Hao's house. He smiled to himself and crossed his arms across his chest. "There wasn't even a need to read your mind there, Rukio." He said. "None at all."

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Horo was watching television at home.

He had just come back from hanging out with Chocolove, Lyserg and Ryu, and all he was hoping for now was an afternoon chock-full of basketball games that he could watch on the tube. It was at the moment he roared in excitement as Tracy McGrady dunked over Kobe Bryant when the doorbell suddenly rang. He groaned out loud, then paused for a moment as though hoping that that would drive the person away. Another ring of the doorbell proved him wrong, and he walked over to it grumpily, opened the door lazily, and his eyes widened at who he saw.

"Ren." He said. The he nodded gloomily. "Wait, I'll get Pirika for you."

"No, it's. . .alright." Ren said.

Horo paused. "What do you mean?"

Ren scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably before looking at Horo straight in the eye, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I was bored watching the NBA match alone at home." He said, almost oddly haughty. "Is it okay if I watch it here with you?"

Horo's eyes widened.

"You. . .you want to watch it with me?" he said.

"Yeah." Ren said. "But if you don't want to. . ." he added hastily.

"No, it's cool." Horo said quickly. "Erm. . ." he said, gesturing towards his house with two of his hands; flapping them forward like a dodo bird out of place. "Come on in." he said.

"Thanks." Ren said.

"I've got no milk left, though." Horo said.

"It's alright, I always have at least two on me." Ren said, pulling them out from his pocket. Horo grinned and turned to enter the living room, when he heard an uncomfortable cough from behind him, and turned around. There stood Ren, looking away blushingly, one of his hands outstretched, one of the milk cartons in his hand. "I already drank two. This one's for you, I guess."

There was a silence, before Horo took it, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, man." He said softly.

"You're welcome."

Inside her room, Pirika gave a small, knowing smile, and shut the door silently.

And watching them from behind a tree stood Tamao timidly; so timidly that even the tree branch above her didn't notice her. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Oh." She said timidly. "He already has company."

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_Hao was smiling._

_Anna knew she was always especially annoyed with Hao whenever he was smiling, mostly because it showed that he was pleased about something, and that usually was a bad sign. But for the first time, Anna felt strangely sullen at the sight of his smile. He seemed so peaceful and tranquil that she wondered what he had been doing before the second she met him, because he just looked so calm and ready. Ready to do something._

_Ready to be finished._

_Anna's eyes widened as she noticed blood trickle from the corners of his mouth before he spat them out, and he brought his hands to his chest, where there was now a red patch staining his clean white shirt. His eyes never lost their joy; perhaps once again he knew something that she did not. Or maybe he was just ready to finally rest in peace._

_And as Hao fell to the floor, Anna caught a glimpse of a young man behind him, a man with a devilishly curved pair of lips, cold blue eyes, and a look on his face that showed nothing but triumph and pure hate for Hao. Her eyes widened. _

_Hold on. Something looked familiar about him._

_Where had she seen him before?_

_He saw her, and smirked at her._

"_I told you." He said softly._

That was when Anna woke up with a start, her heart hammering painfully against her ribs.

"He was with Sumiko." She said, her eyes wide, her words coming out in gasping pants.

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Rain was starting to fall, a thin clap of thunder slashing through the sky like a knife.

Hao looked out the window and smirked.

"Well, well." He muttered. "You're in trouble now, Rukio."

Sumiko, who was behind him, raised her eyebrows.

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Rukio was sitting alone in his room, his eyes shut, ignoring the annoying dripping noise of the water hitting against one small part of the floor in his room, which somehow escaped the tiling through a small crack. Suddenly there was a step across the puddle, and he opened a lazy eye to see who had entered. His eyes widened and his expressions turned into a look of glee as he saw who it was.

"Well, look who we have here." He said, licking his lips. "The strongest female in the entire world. What have I done to allow the grace of your acquaintance?" He grinned, his hands tucking into his trouser pockets.

The woman by the name of Anna glared down at him, her arms crossed before her chest.

END CHAPTER 5

Hey, I just realized something. I have not done an "action scene" for Sumiko and Hao yet. That's odd, I would have thought I would have made at least one for them by now. Oh well. I guess half the fun is giving you guys the wait for it, right? grins Please look forward to chapter 6.


	7. A Single Step to Pandemonium

Chapter 6, ahh, we're finally into the second half of A Girl Called Anna 2. Here's going to be more intense and full of romance than the first. So please show your support everyone, and read and review!!! And of course, post a comment on my LiveJournal. 

CHAPTER 6

"I wondered how long it would take for you to come to pay me a visit." Rukio said, getting up to his feet. "Looks like you finally remembered who I was."

"Rukio Makoto." Anna said through clenched teeth. "How did you manage to escape from Hell?"

"It was a rather simple task, Anna, I was just waiting for the right moment to do it." He answered languidly, walking into his kitchen, his back turned towards her. "You couldn't have expected me to be stuck in Hell all those years, could you?"

"Actually I did." Anna said, walking behind him steadily. "The barrier that Yohmei placed on you should have sent you to Hell for a thousand years. How did you get out within. . ."

"Twelve years." Rukio answered, his lips twitching as he sliced himself a cake from inside his refrigerator. "I didn't wait till the end of my contract." He said lazily as he took a bite from his current slice and put the rest in the fridge. "That powerful spell was supposed to keep me in Hell for a thousand years. . .but after spending so many years in Hell, I somehow managed to. . ." he grinned at her. "Kill the devil."

Her eyes widened.

"No you didn't."

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did." Rukio said, picking up the cherry from the top of the cake. "I basically used my time contract to the fullest extent, meaning that while instead of going according to the human time, I tuned myself to Death God time, so while I was in there for a mere twelve years, I spent. . ." He smirked at her, waiting for her to append the sentence.

"A thousand and two hundred years." She whispered.

"Correct." He said. "And I'm pretty sure that even Hao didn't spend such a long time in Hell."

"That's because he won't need to." She spoke curtly.

There was a flicker of irritation in his eyes but he shrugged it off and took another bite of his cake. "Perhaps." He said idly. "But I'm guessing that you aren't here just to ask me about my life story."

"Good guess, then." Anna said. "What motives do you have by coming back?"

He turned around to face her in false utter amazement. "My Gosh, Anna, I think you're spending too much time with that idiot of a fiancée of yours." He said before continuing. "While I was in Hell, all I could think of was two things. Love and hate. And through those two, only two people were able to come across my mind, and through thinking of those two people. . .only one action permitted me any satisfaction." He turned to her, the plate before him turning into ice and shattering into tiny pieces. "Death."

Her hands gripped the beads on her neck tightly. "I won't let you kill either of them."

"I know you won't." Rukio said, taking a step towards her. "That's why. . ." he brought his fingers to caress her cheek softly. "You're in my way."

She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me."

Rukio grinned. "Ah, the ice maiden. You know, you and I might make a pretty good couple."

"I sincerely doubt it."

He paused for a moment before shrugging. "Hmph. You're worse that what Sumiko was like." a wicked smile appeared across his face. "But then again, as a girl who does not even love her own husband. . .I guess I can't expect much, can I?" A flicker of anger surged through Anna's eyes and he chuckled. "But what can I say; you must have picked your traits off Sumiko."

"She knew what you were planning." Anna said in a voice of forced calm.

"She didn't suspect anything, and you know it." Rukio said haughtily. "She thought I loved her. . .ended up falling madly in love with me, and in the end almost got killed by me." He chuckled softly. "She's just an idiot."

Anna gritted her teeth and slapped him across the face.

He blinked, stepping back. There was a pause before he cocked his head. "You **do** have feelings, after all. Although I'm amused that you slapped me because I insulted Sumiko, and yet said nothing when I made fun of your husband." Then came a peculiar look upon his face; a smirk that overshadowed a ghost of Hao Asakura. "Don't tell me that you're still not having physical contact with him?"

A chill went down Anna's spine.

"How did you. . ." she said hoarsely.

"I have my ways." He answered, stepping past her. "But I don't think that you should be worrying about how I found out about your constant problems with your husband. . .but how I am going to use that to my advantage."

"How my husband and I are is none of your business." She said curtly.

"Oh, I think it very much is." He turned to her one more time, and once again that scene came into her head once more.

The ice.

The smirk.

The blood.

The death.

"Anna." He finished, his voice snaking out of his lips and wrapping themselves around her, trapping her within. She gritted her teeth and whipped her hand right across his face once more, her body shaking from head to toe.

"You disgust me." She said, her lip trembling.

"And you fascinate me." Rukio said in a gentle purr. "Who would have thought there would be a woman in the world of such breathtaking beauty surpassing Sumiko?"

"She always was way out of your league." Anna said.

"But she fell in love with me all the same." He said, cocking his head. "That's why all women, in the very end. . .fall in love with an image. And her image of me was someone who loved her." He chuckled. "Pathetic woman."

Anna's eyes flashed, her hands reaching for her beads when suddenly a hand gripped hers from behind. She glared and turned around, and her eyes widened as she saw who it was.

Hao Asakura smiled down at her, one of his hands holding onto hers, the other gripping an ice pick thrown by Rukio in a thin grip. "Looks like I came here in the nick of time." He said softly.

"Hao!" Anna gasped. "What are you. . .?"

"Nice of you to join the party, Hao." Rukio said mildly. "Your sister-in-law is quite the wildcat."

"Thanks, I know." Hao said mildly. "How have you been doing lately?"

"I've been fine." Rukio answered. "Talked to your lovely wife Sumiko in the past few days?"

"Yes, I have."

"Is she still such a screamer in bed?"

Hao's eyes turned red with anger, his hand on Anna's trembling slightly but he concealed it perfectly with a smile. "Well, you'll never know, will you?"

"Hao, what the Heck are you. . ." Anna started angrily, but was silenced by Hao's Spirit of Fire bursting out from behind them, lifting both her and Hao off the ground. "I think we'll take our leave here, Rukio." Hao said pleasantly. "I just came here to pick up my brother's wife. I'll deal with you later."

Rukio grinned.

"I'll see you soon then." He said. "Amazing how you knew where my house was."

"I have my ways." Hao said, melting the ice pick in his hand lazily. "Your powers have improved, by the way. I used to be able to stop your ice powers with a mere finger before."

"That wasn't even me being totally serious." Rukio said smugly.

Hao smiled softly. "I know." And with a flick of his fingers, the Spirit of Fire took intuition to take flight into the distance.

"What the Heck is your problem, Hao?" Anna snapped. "He was insulting Yoh and Sumiko! I could have easily killed that little shit!"

"That would be going against my plans, Anna." Hao said soothingly.

She blinked.

"Plan?" she questioned.

He turned and grinned at her. "Yes." He said silkily. "And you killing him would only do me no use." She continued to stare at him and he chuckled. "Don't look so shell shocked, Anna. I know what I'm doing." He looked away. "Trust me to know how to protect my wife."

She paused before looking into the deep horizon calmly.

"He wants you and Sumiko dead, Hao." She said.

"I'm aware of that." He said calmly.

She gulped, a fear of death and the image of a ruined landscape once again flashing across her eyes. "And what happens if you get killed?"

Hao was silent for a long moment, and she was almost sure that she was not going to given an answer when he turned around, and there was that peaceful smile on his face. It was not one of smugness or the one of a winner. . .it was the smile of complete solitude and weariness. And Anna felt him age before her; something she never noticed before.

"Take care of Sumiko for me." He whispered.

Her eyes widened as the Hao Asakura before her died, and a new one was reborn.

He smiled at her sorrowfully. "Promise me that."

She swallowed, her throat dry.

"I promise." She whispered.

He smiled, and it was at that moment when she saw Yoh, and through Yoh she knew the man before her. And by knowing him, she. . .

"Please don't die, Hao." She said.

He paused for a moment, unsure of how to answer her; the voice of the troubled trapped within his throat. And he turned away from her, his hands in his pockets, and watching the sun steadily rising for the new day.

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Sumiko stood at the front porch, a tea cup in her hand, watching the sun steadily rise on a plain view from the house that both she and Hao shared.

"What a rare sight." came Yohmei's voice from behind her, his hands in his pockets. She turned to face him. "I never thought that I would ever see you eating something else other than lemons." He cocked his head. "What's in that?"

"Lemon tea." She answered, taking a steady sip.

He gave her a sheepish look before sitting down beside her. "You love sunrises, don't you?" he asked her.

"Not particularly." She answered mundanely.

Yohmei opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again in defeat and turned away to enter the house where Ejio and Kino sat, drinking the tea that Sumiko made. "She's a young lady with a few words, isn't she?" Kino said, grinning smugly.

"Yes she is." Yohmei said feverishly. "I swear, she makes Anna looks like a complete chatterbox with those vocal chords of hers." He paused as Kino laughed. "She hasn't changed over all these years."

"I wouldn't say that." Kino said calmly. "Surely you were there on the day she married Hao?"

Yohmei smiled at him sheepishly. "No, I wasn't. I was forced to meet with some businesses. Surely it was a good wedding?"

"My sister smiled in the wedding picture." Ejio said quietly, and the room sullened at his sudden words. "That was probably the first and only time in all these years that Sumiko smiled in a picture." He took a sip of tea. "She claimed that emotions proved weaknesses, and to have emotions was to be weak." He looked up, and smiled softly. "I have never seen my sister happier."

"I find that hard to believe." Yohmei said, glancing out at Sumiko who was dipping a lemon in her tea gloomily.

Kino merely smiled.

00000000000000000000000000000000

It didn't seem like Sumiko was thinking about much. She had her head inclined up to the skies above; her mouth hanging open with a lemon wedged in between her two fingers. It didn't quite give the image of someone in the midst of solving a mathematics problem sum. But it was the way that every so often the slight ghost of a smile would creep across her face, and the way her eyes looked like they were getting watery but in a second it was gone again made one wonder just what she was thinking.

"Hao. . ." she whispered.

"_Do you fear death?"_

_Sumiko turned to him with raised eyebrows. The two of them were in bed the day before, and the rain was pouring heavily down the windowsill outside. "You woke me up for this?" she said witheringly._

"_One, this is an important matter." He said, grinning slyly at her. "And two, I know you were not sleeping a wink just now." His finger poked her nose lovingly. "In fact, I also know that you were counting lemons, desperately trying to get to sleep."_

_She blinked before pouting. _

"_You used to not be able to read my mind." She said sulkily._

"_That was when you were just an empty box in a very attractive frame." He said coyly. She said nothing more, and he drew stray hairs away from her face soothingly. "So, c'mon." he whispered to her as a distinct rumble filled the skies. "Do you fear death?"_

"_In what context?"_

"_Erm. . ." he said, scratching the back of his head._

"_Because if you mean the death of myself, then I have no worries." She said, drawing away from him to look up the ceiling. "I've stepping before death many times and passed it with barely a shiver." She turned to him. "I've been through way too much to me scared of such trifle things."_

_Hao nodded, looking out the window at the pouring rain._

"_However. . ." she continued in a soft whisper, and he turned to her. "If I was forced to witness the deaths of the ones that I love. . ." _

_Hao turned to her, but she was looking up at the ceiling with almost irrevocable disdain, and he felt like he was invading her privacy by looking at her. She did not speak for a long while. "People such as my brother. . .Anna. . .Kino and Yohmei. . ." her voice started to crack. "And you. . ." she finished, blinking her eyes fiercely to hold back the tears._

_It was then when Hao placed his hand over hers, and her eyes widened, her head turning to face his. He smiled at her. "Nobody's going anywhere, Sumiko." He whispered. "Not Ejio, not Kino, not Yohmei. . ." he kissed her softly. "And certainly not me."_

_Tears were starting to fall from her face now._

"_You promise?" she said in a hoarse sob._

"_I promise." He said, entwining his fingers within hers._

"_Should you break this promise?"_

"_Then I'll crawl out of the Gates of Hell." He said in a confident tone. "And I'll come back for you."_

Looking back, his tone was somewhat different from all his promises and bold statements. Being the wife of Hao Asakura, Sumiko was the person in the world who knew his haughty arrogance beyond anyone else; and she could tell the slight difference in the undertone of Hao's voice. His tone was reassuring and confident, but underlying that was a promise, a word of secret. . .a hint.

But what?

"I'm back."

Her eyes widened and turned around to find Hao and Anna standing behind her, a wide grin on Hao's face, and a small frown on Anna's. "Asakura." She said breathlessly. "Anna. When did you two. . .?"

"Arrived just a few seconds ago." Hao said, walking past her. "And I have to say that I am absolutely famished. Any good food waiting for me on the breakfast table?"

Sumiko did not reply, and was staring at her husband appraisingly.

"Erm. . ." Hao said nervously. "I think I'll just go head off inside." And with that, he turned to walk into the house. Anna took a slow step up to Sumiko, who was still staring at the back of her husband sit himself down next to Opacho on the breakfast table. Anna sighed and sat herself down next to Sumiko.

"You're thinking about something." She said resolutely.

"Maybe I am." Sumiko replied, sighing and sitting down beside Anna.

"Think you could tell me what's on your mind?"

Sumiko stayed silent for a moment before looking down at her feet. "Lately I've been having this nightmare."

"Yeah?" Anna said nervously, clearly aware of her own.

Sumiko took one more look at Hao, who was laughing at something Yohmei had said before looking away. "I keep having this eerie feeling that Asakura's going to leave my side." She said in a hushed whisper.

"Why do you say that?" Anna said.

"I've been through more than you, Anna." Sumiko said tiredly, whisking into her pocket to pull out a slice of a lemon and bit into it. "And after a while you get instincts that only animals are supposed to have. Sharper sixth sense, deeper knowledge, and the ability to tell the strong change of the weather." She glared before her. "Something's going to change. A storm's coming." She drew the lemon out of her mouth. "And Asakura's in the middle of it."

It was this moment when Anna wondered whether she should have told Sumiko about her dream. Whether it was better to frighten someone but prepare them, or to keep a secret from them and keep them in the dark.

And the foolish side of Anna made her decision.

"Don't worry." Anna said. "You're probably just imagining things."

"We Oracles do not imagine." Sumiko said in her lazy tone. "We either foretell correctly, or we see a vision wrongly. Nothing other than that." She turned to Anna slightly accusingly. "And I can tell that you're keeping something from me." Anna blinked. "But you're free to prove me wrong."

"I. . ."

"Anna!"

Anna let out an involuntary inward sigh of relief as she saw her dim-witted husband running over to her, a cheerful smile on his face. "Yoh." She said to him, trying her best to sound distant, but a small smile filled her face at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find you in the entire house, so I thought that you would be here." He said to her happily. "I was wondering if you wanted me to send you to work or something."

Anna would have rather died than have Yoh and Yoko to meet each other. But between the fatal meeting of the two persons and the questioning session with an anxious wife, she chose to jump the boat. "Yeah, sure." Anna said haughtily. "As long as you don't make any stupid remarks along the way."

"Consider it done." Yoh said cheekily, and the two of them left.

Sumiko frowned at Anna's retreating figure.

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"I guess I saved you from a major confrontation, huh?"

Anna turned to him curiously and Yoh chuckled. "I could already tell from Sumiko and your expressions that she wanted to know about something you were having trouble revealing, and something that Sumiko would want to know with such determination was probably about Hao, and you didn't want to tell it to her because it might have worried her, which means that you know something about Hao that might upset her. And the fact that you know something about Hao getting hurt probably also has something to do with that Rukio person, right?"

Anna just stared at Yoh in unflattering, complete disbelief.

"I guessed right?" he said, grinning.

She paused before smirking. "Not half bad." She said. "I think sometimes you put on that stupid smile just so that people would look down on you."

"Sometimes." Yoh said with a nonchalant shrug.

She smiled genuinely at him, and he smiled back.

"Thanks for that." She said.

"No problem."

Footsteps approaching.

"I take that this must be your husband, Anna?"

A heart stops beating.

Anna and Yoh turned to find Yoko standing there with an innocent smile on her face. Beside her stood a woman with breathtaking beauty; wonderfully long slender legs, a thin tight waist, large voluptuous breasts, and an unblemished face with the most beautiful eyes; one colour different from the other.

The very sight of her turned Yoh heads over heels in lust.

And Anna took notice of that, a worried frown on her face. She turned to Yoko questioningly. "What are you. . .?" she asked.

"I was showing a friend of mine around the place." Yoko said with a grin on her face. "Half a week ago we spoke of an agreement, and I guess times caught up on us." She smirked at Anna. "I told you about this before, I remember."

Anna clenched her teeth angrily. So Yoko was finally starting to step into action. The bet that the two of them made four days ago was about to take place; a bet she should have never put herself through. She took in a shuddering breath, struggling to keep her cool. "Yes." She said finally in a defeated voice. "I remember."

"That's great!" Yoko said cheerily and turned to the woman beside her. "That's Anna Kyoyuma." She said. "And the man beside her is her husband." A genuine smile filled up across her features. "Yoh Asakura."

The lady acted on her own and took a graceful step toward Yoh, a small smile across her features, a gesture that made her look, if possible, even more ravenously beautiful than before. Anna noticed this too, and a look of fear of a possible unwanted outcome to take place. Yoh was looking at the lady not only with lust, but with hunger. Pure hunger to take her, to win her, to have her.

Not a look of love, but a look of pure wanting. Something the Yoh she knew would not have done. Something she was sure only stood with his friends and brother. But here her husband was; three seconds face to face with another woman, and he had already forgotten her.

She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Yoh said, licking his dry lips.

The lady smirked, her hand rising for him to kiss her palm. "My name is Malena." She said in a sultry voice. "Nice to meet you too."

Yoko turned to Anna, a small smirk on her face, a mouthed a word to her.

Anna could not see what Yoko said because her eyes were straining from the tears, but she swore she could shape out the context, to see what she said. . .

"Animal."

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"Pass the chips, please."

"Why don't you get them yourself?"

"I would, but I'm too busy watching the game."

"I'm watching the game too."

"Yes you are, but with no as much intensity as me."

". . .You're playing the computer at the same time."

"Because if I watched the show with ALL my intensity, the television would blow up. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

". . ."

"Argument won by the ever-wonderful Horo Horo. Now, my dear friend, please pass the chips."

"I got you a drink before. You should be giving the chips to me while giving me a backrub. It's common courtesy."

"It is also common courtesy to not let your friend's stomach rumble in the middle of a heated argument while Dwayne Wade goes through a shooting finish against LeBron James. Look it up in your Chinese Confucius manual, china boy."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY???"

"CHINA BOY!!!"

"HENTAI SAMURAI!!!"

"DUMPLING SELLER!!"

"SUSHI FACE!!!"

They paused for a minute for a breather as they glared at each other from both sides of the room. Then Horo chuckled softly under his breath and Ren could not help but smile softly. "Look at us, man." Horo muttered. "Possibly one of the last times we're going to hang out, and we're quarrelling all over again."

"That's because you constantly get on my nerves." Ren snorted, and Horo gave him a withering smile. Ren paused and sighed. "Also, arguing with you lets me forget that everything's constantly changing around us. And pretty soon you won't be here to notice those changes with me."

Horo blinked and forced a smile. "Hey, don't worry about it, man. We still have half a week to hang out, anyway. We can still make the best out of it."

Ren stayed silent for a moment, watching Shaquille O'Neal miss a shot from the free throw line, the rebound stolen by LeBron. Groans erupted from the crowd. "I hope you won't change when you get back, Horo." He said quietly.

Horo's eyes widened.

On the screen O'Neal made up for his miss with a block, and threw the ball forward to give Dwayne the winning shot, cheers resounding on the court.

Horo smiled bitterly.

"I won't, Ren." He said. "Trust me."

Ren bit his lip, looking away. And for a second Horo thought he was going to cry.

"T. . .take care of Pirika for me." Ren said hoarsely.

Horo smiled warmly.

"Yeah." He said. "And you take care of yourself."

O'Neal and Dwayne were laughing as they hi-fived, the two of them stepping off the court, victorious.

"Pass the chips, man." Horo said.

"Oh, shut up."

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Yoh hated himself.

Hot water spurted onto him from the tap above, but he still found himself cold. Cold with betrayal to the woman he loved. What the Hell was he thinking? He was married to a wonderful woman. A beautiful woman. A woman whom he had fallen madly in love with since the first time they met when they were ten years old.

So why. . .?

"Yoh, I'm going out for a walk." came Anna's voice from outside the door, a distinct touch of cool on it.

Was it cool? Or was it anger?

"Remember to cook dinner **well** this time. Yesterdays' tasted like sludge on a plate."

Okay, maybe it was a bit of both.

There was a pause from the other end of the door, and he could almost feel her fingers on the other side, trying to reach out to him. He shut his eyes bitterly. He just couldn't bear to face her. He knew he was already unfaithful to her by his insatiable actions towards Malena. And if even he himself could tell. . .

What did Anna see in his eyes?

"I'll be back soon." Came her distant reply, and he could hear her heel turn to walk away.

"Anna." He whispered under his breath softly.

And the woman he loved heard him.

She always did.

"Yes, Yoh?" she asked calmly.

He shut his eyes.

"I love you." He said. "I always have, and always will. No matter what. Through thick and thin, past any stupid obstacles in the way." His face was burning with humiliation, but he just knew he had to tell her. Let her know. Let her understand.

Let her hear him.

Like she always did.

"There are many routes, Anna." He continued. "You make me run all those laps every morning. All those paths and turns. . .I could have easily taken a run for it and left, going off into some random lady's arms and lived a life without you." He paused for a moment, silence betaking between them.

She did not make a sound.

"But I have never, and absolutely will never do that." He choked out. "Because the road to you is what I'm looking for. What I've always been looking for. And I'll never stray away from you. Please believe me, and forgive me. Because I'm sorry. For everything that I've done."

There was silence.

And outside the door stood Yoko and Anna, a look of amusement on Yoko's, and a look of both embarrassment and immense relief on Anna's face.

Yoko grinned at her.

"Lover boy sure knows how to talk." She said.

Anna's sullen frame said nothing.

"Yoh will never cheat on me." She whispered.

"That's what they always say." Yoko said, pulling a cigarette to her lips. "But two months later there they are before their lawyers, filing for a divorce." Anna's eyes were as cold as marbles. Yoko struck a match and lit her cigarette, grinning through it. "A flame may shine bright for a short time, and it may seem to cover all darkness." She blew it out, and a chill went down Anna's spine at the sight of Yoko's sickly smile. "But all flames wear out with time."

Anna turned away.

"He loves me." She whispered.

"We'll see in three days, my friend." Yoko said.

Three days.

72 hours.

The slow clicking towards pandemonium.

An unstoppable force driving itself toward love and everything it stands for. And the heart knows that all it can do it wait.

Stand firm.

Pray for strength.

And pray that that strength would be enough.

END CHAPTER 6

Sorry about the miss of Hao and Sumiko's scene in this chapter, it just seemed to pause the momentum of the story. Oh well, I guess it'll come out sooner or later. Keep reading, everyone! Don't give up on me just yet! And please continue your support by reviewing me!! It is the reviews and readers here that give me the strength to continue writing!!!  Until chapter 7, see you then!!!!


	8. The Beginning of The End

IMPORTANT : I want to send this story to a competition, but I need a short autobiography of myself. I thought it would be a little egoistic to write about myself, so I would love it if a fellow reader wrote a few lines for me!! Please e-mail me or write it in your review if you're willing to help me! And to say thank you, I will e-mail you or send a hint to you of any questions you need to ask me about the following plot!! So, please, e-mail me or send it in your review! Thanks!!!

A steady unveiling of the past events as time goes along. Once again, please read and review!!!!

CHAPTER 7

"_I love you." came her soft voice into his ear; like the song of an angel. "I will never stop loving you, Rukio Makoto."_

Rukio woke up with a start.

Silence overcame him and he let out a small relieved smirk, looking at the room around him through the dark.

His house was still the same as it always was. Rotting, empty and the shell of a once dead person. His eyes glanced around the place before getting up to his feet. Over the thousands of years that he lived, his house was one place that never seemed to change. In the inside of the Hell hole was just plain darkness except for the small ray of light that shone in from a crack in the ceiling.

"I'm hungry." He said aloud.

There was no need for silent wondering. Nobody was going to hear him, anyway. He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "There used to be someone who always heard me." He muttered to himself. It was at that moment in the silence when he thought that he missed her, and possibly even still loved her. But then in a second it was gone, and he shook himself off by eating another slice of cake.

_She laughed. _

_It was the most peculiar and beautiful sound he had ever heard; her voice echoing and resounding in his ears. And he treasured it, knowing that he would probably never hear that sound again for a long time. He held her in his arms and laughed with her, their voices finally on parallel universes for once._

The cake fell out of his hands, the plate crashing to the floor, smashing to smithereens. For a moment he merely stared at it; remembering what it used to be and what it was before it was destroyed. Then he sighed and picked it up, clearing the mess of what used to be.

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"He used to love her."

Hao looked away from the window and turned to Ejio lazily. "Say what?" he said to him mundanely.

Ejio took a bite of a lemon and shuddered, dropping it to the table with a fat plop before continuing. "Rukio might seem to be a heartless monster. . ."

"Which he is," Hao said calmly, picking up the lemon from the table.

Ejio took a sip of water. "But he used to love Sumiko."

Hao started to burn the lemon lightly in his hand. "That's not possible." He said to Ejio sourly.

"Yes, it is." Ejio continued shrewdly. "Haven't you heard the saying that 'Love makes you both love and hate a person at the same time'?"

"I beg to differ." Hao said, offended. "I love Sumiko from the bottom of my heart."

"Uh huh." Ejio said idly. "Says the man who got into a billion and one fights with her since the first day you got married to her."

"Trifle arguments." Hao retorted.

"She moved into Yoh and Anna's apartment the very week after your Honeymoon."

"That was because she sold my camera for Hawaiian lemons!!" Hao said furiously.

Ejio said nothing more, which did nothing but increase Hao's curiosity. "If what you say is true. . ." he murmured, and Ejio looked up at him. "Then what made Rukio suddenly hate his fiancée so much that he wanted to kill her?"

"I do not think Rukio has ever stopped loving my sister."

"Bull crap." Hao muttered, spinning the burning lemon in his hand.

Ejio gave him a stern glare before continuing. "I think that Rukio's ferocious lust for power took over him when he found out about my sister's powers." He sighed, suddenly wan and tired. "Choosing between his love for her and his lust for power, he chose to go after his desires. Either that, or. . ." he turned to Hao. "His hatred for you was so strong he wanted to get power. In any way possible."

"Me?" Hao asked, alarmed.

"Bing bong." Ejio said in a bored voice. "Lust over love. Hatred over love." He shut his eyes. "What IS the power of love, anyway?"

Hao had nothing to say to that.

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"_Marry me, Sumiko."_

His own voice resounded in his ears; the haunting proposal he set forth for the new decade he was ready to bring himself into. Till this day, he was still unsure of the true happenings of the past. Yet he remembered how he spoke. He remembered where they were, he remembered what time it was, and he also remembered the look of pure surprise on her face.

But he also remembered the look of elation in her eyes; for once the gloom had disappeared out of her vision and in one moment all she saw was him. It was a look that he never saw from her again.

"Rukio."

He snapped out of his reverie and turned around to find a young lady standing before him, a smirk on her face at first until it flickered away, being replaced with a look of concern. "Are you crying?" she asked him incredulously.

He surprised himself with the tears falling down his cheeks and wiped them away hurriedly. "Nope." He said hastily. "I yawned and. . ." he cut himself off before he continued to make a fool out of himself. "What are you doing in my house, anyway? I hope it's for a good reason."

"A perfectly good reason." The girl said, her lips twitching upwards. She placed a folder onto the table. "I found out something that might make you happy."

"Yeah?" he said with raised eyebrows, picking it up. "And what might that. . ." he started, glancing at the notes, leaving his voice trailing as he continued reading the pages before him. His expression mutilated from shock to utter confusion to an evil behidden glee.

"Is all of this true?" he whispered, almost to himself.

"Every word." She replied.

"If that's the case," he whispered, excitement and hunger lacing every of his words, a nervous smile filling his face. "That means that everything that I've planned so far might just work out perfectly."

"And who shall the first victim be?" the lady asked with similar uncontainable excitement.

He grinned at her; the grin of a man who ripped apart the devil with his bare hands. "Isn't it obvious?" he said in a devilish whisper. "Yohmei Asakura."

The girl grinned. "Understood."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And I thought that it was impossible to kill that old bastard." He murmured. "Looks like there's a way for everything, after all." He turned to her and grinned smugly. "Well done." He said softly. "How's the other side of my plan going? Smoothly, I hope?"

The young lady by the name of Yoko smirked back at him.

"Of course." She said silkily.

"That's good." He said with a nod, and she turned to leave the room before she looked round at him once more, this time in concern. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked him. He blinked. Had he come to a point where even Yoko had to worry for him? He shrugged it off with a wan smile. "Never better." He said tiredly. "Now quit worrying about me and get down to the plan."

Yoko paused for a minute, hesitant to leave him, but then nodded grimly and turned away. "I'll see you soon." She said softly, her voice distant, and left him alone.

Not for the first time.

He sighed.

"Yeah." He muttered. "I'll see you later."

"_Marry me, Sumiko."_

Then came her answer as clear as day.

"_I'm sorry."_

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"Here's something fun to do, Sumiko." Hao said to his wife as the two of them sat themselves down on the usual table that the gang usually sat on. She merely looked up at him mundanely, awaiting his appending of the sentence. He had a book in his hands with a question mark on the front cover, something Sumiko always took precaution toward, and this time was no different. "It's this personality poll thing, just that instead of telling you of what type of person you are, it tells you what quote suits you the most in the world."

"How is that fun?" Sumiko said placidly.

He gave her a withering smile as a pretty waitress stepped before the two of them, a bright smile on her face. "Ah, if it isn't you two again. Where's the rest of your group? Coming soon, I hope?"

"You can bet on that." Hao said, grinning at her.

"That's good." She said, bobbing her head happily. "The usual drinks for you two? Café mocha and an ice lemon tea?"

"That'll be great." Hao said; and she bowed and left. He turned to Sumiko, who was looking out the window tonelessly. He sighed. "You seem to be even more glum than you started off to be." He muttered under his breath.

"I can't help it." She said sullenly. "My ex-fiancée is out to kill me and my husband. It hardly calls the time for a party. Neither is it time to do aimless questionnaires." She added menacingly as he propped up the book before him hopefully.

At the sound of that, he dropped the book down with a dull flap and smiled at her soothingly. "Relax, Sumiko." He said to her calmly. "I already told you that I have an idea in mind."

"That might not be enough!" she snapped. "Rukio might have been planning this for a long time! What makes you think you can overtop his in a mere 5 days?"

"Four, actually."

"Four days???"

He smiled at her warmly, and slid himself in the seat so he was sitting directly next to her. "Don't worry." He said. "You're the wife of a man who has an IQ of 180. Believe it or not, I know exactly how everything will go."

"How can you be so damn cocky about everything?"

"Simple." He said with a smirk. "Because I know I can." She stayed silent for a moment, quietly brooding before he hit her on the head with the book, chuckling lightly. "Come on." He said to her softly. "10 questions. It won't take up too much time."

She paused, waiting until the pretty waitress returned with their drinks and left before replying with a hesitant sigh. "Fine." She said. "Only ten questions."

"Agreed." He said, flipping the book open with such simple ease that nobody would have noticed his hand fall gently to her thigh, stroking it gently. Her head whipped up to glare at him, but he avoided her eye, and looked into the book with mock fascination. "Alright, question one." He said in a bright voice, his hand disappearing under her skirt.

"Asakura, not in a public place." She said warningly.

"But you're so tense." He said soothingly, stroking her inner thigh benignly. "This is the best way to relax you and let you answer my questions calmly." He drew a finger across the front line of her underwear, earning a soft moan from her and he chuckled. "Well then, now that I have your attention, let's begin, shall we?"

"Only if you drown yourself in your coffee first." said his beautiful wife in a tone so venomous that only many years of being married to her and long conversations with Anna gave him strength to continue and ignore what she said.

"Question one." He said simply. "What would you find yourself doing on a boring Saturday afternoon?"

"Killing my bastard of a husband." She growled.

"That's not very nice." He said calmly, edging her underwear out of the way and finding the secret place of hers and drew his finger into her, earning a gasp from her. Swiftly and yet nonchalantly, he drew a lemon out of her pocket and placed it before her lips. "People are going to start staring if you make such noises, don't you think?" he said in a smug voice. "Now. First question."

"You're such a. . ." she breathed.

"That's not answering my question, Sumiko."

She gave him one last look of loathing before taking in a shuddering breath. "I guess I would just stay at home or something." She said.

"That's very much like you." He said with a small grin, his finger slowly entering her, earning a whimper from her, her lips biting down into the lemon to stop herself from moaning out loud. "That's better." He said, turning the page. "Now for question two. What kind of food and drinks do you like?"

"Sour things." She said through gritted teeth as he started fingering her steadily quickly now. "But the only thing I find sour enough has to be the lemon."

"Fantastic." He said smoothly. "Question three now. What do you look for in a soul mate? Looks, a good body, or the heart? Or something else?"

"I. . .don't go. . .for. . .any. . ." she said through soft pants. "Or else I would not have fallen for someone like you, right?" He gave her a withering smile. "I go for something else."

"Which is?"

"What. . .I am to them." She said.

His finger hesitated for a minute, a thought suddenly flickering through his mind before he grinned and licked her earlobe tenderly, earning a moan from his wife as another of his fingers made his gradual entrance into her. "Question four." He purred. "If you were given one superhuman power, what would it be?"

"To take away. . .all superhuman strength."

Yet again he paused, spellbound by the uniqueness of Sumiko's thinking. But that train of thought was snapped when a group of schoolgirls sat down on the table opposite the two of them. "Oh, crap." Sumiko muttered, trying to get away from him, but Hao brought her into an embrace, and she gasped as her head fell to his chest, her hands on his thigh.

"Wait." He said, ignoring the giggling girls beside them. "Six more questions, Sumiko." He said, his fingers continuing their work.

"Hao. . ." she pleaded. "Stop. Not now. . ."

"Question five." He said. "What music do you listen to?"

"Nothing."

"Question six. . ."

His voice became a blur as she felt herself bubbling up inside, heat starting to travel to all parts of her body, her fingers suddenly paralyzed by the sudden shock of different pleasures that she never knew. She felt her limit arriving; and Hao, being the expert that he was, knew of this too.

His hands traveled into her shirt, feeling her soft skin through the material of her blouse. "Are you going to come, Sumiko?" he asked throatily.

"Y. . .yes." she whimpered. "So. . .quit it. . ."

"As tempting as that sounds," he said mockingly. "I don't think I will." But his tempo slowed down; purposely slow. Fast enough to cause her to lose breath, but slow enough to stop her from quick release. He truly was a master at his art. And so he tortured her and pleased her at the same time with the dready skill; her entire body aching for release, her voice leaving her, it being replaced with mere pants and hushed moaned whimpers from her dry throat. After torturous minutes which seemed like centuries, he was finally down to the last question. Sumiko felt herself breaking out in sweat, the lemon bearing her many bite marks.

"Last question." He said seductively. "What do you hate? And what do you love?"

"W. . .what?" she panted hoarsely.

"What do you hate. . ." he said, stroking her thigh softly, flooding her with pleasures she never knew existed. "And what do you love?"

"I hate you, you bastard." She growled.

He smiled at her benignly. "It's the last question." He said, shutting the book, his finger pausing in motion. "We're done here."

She let out a shuddering breath and bit her lip.

"I hate people who act like somebody they're not." She said in a voice of incredible strain. "I hate sweet things, and I hate people who lie." She bit her lip and looked up at him. "And I love you."

His eyes widened and smiled at her.

"I love you too." He whispered, his fingers drawing into her once more; this time hitting her spot perfectly, and she let out a whimpering gasping moan into the lemon in her mouth as she came right there and then, her legs weak, her mind losing all focus of everything, and she found herself in Hao's arms; sweaty, tired and exhausted.

Hao spent the next few minutes checking a perfect quote for her as she cuddled up to him, ignoring the schoolgirls from the other table who were staring at the two of them, giggling continuously. Sumiko looked up to her husband mundanely, and let out a small smile at the sight of him looking through the pages before him.

It was times like this when she wished time would just stop; stop just for the two of them. Where it was just the two of them, and nothing more.

It was all she could ever ask.

"I've got it." He said to her, drawing his fingers through her hair lovingly. "Want me to tell it to you?"

"Go ahead." She said, sitting upright, drawing the almost forgotten cup of lemon tea to her lips.

"Here it goes." Hao said. He paused, and then smiled softly. " 'It seems that in this world of loneliness, it seems stupid, almost incredibly selfish to be lonely alone.'" He turned to her. "I think this quote suits you quite perfectly, actually."

She paused before shrugging.

"If you say so." She said, taking a sip of her drink before laying it down. "What was the quote chosen for you, anyway?"

"Ah." Hao said, sipping his coffee.

It was at that moment when Yoh and the others entered the café, chattering to themselves, laughing loudly. The pretty waitress was already before them beckoning them to enter. Hao placed the coffee back down on the table calmly and turned to his wife, who was watching him in a strangely faraway look.

"I think it was well chosen." He said quietly.

"And what was it?" she questioned.

Once again, there was that distant and strange smile on his face once again.

"Death ends a life." Hao said silently. "Not a relationship."

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Yohmei sat in his room silently, his eyes shut, his eyebrows knitted together in an elapsed frown. Kino stepped behind him, resting her hands on the wall beside her. He sensed her, and she knew it. His eyes slowly drew open. "You woke my up." She said sullenly. He paused, silent. "You said nothing. But I could hear you screaming out loud in your head." She took a step forward. "Something's troubling you, Yohmei. What is it?"

He chuckled and turned to face her. "As expected from someone of such stature as you." He murmured and got up steadily to his feet, dusting his pants off. She merely continued to frown at him and he shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it." He said to her in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice. "It's nothing."

"You're a terrible liar."

"That I might be." He said softly.

Her frown furrowed.

"Yohmei." She said sternly.

Yohmei turned to face her.

"Hao asked me an odd question this afternoon." He said simply.

"Yeah?" she said, wondering if he was straying away from the question or giving her a hint to something. She sincerely hoped it was the latter.

"It was ten questions actually." He said calmly, taking a step away from her slowly. "It was to see what quote most suited me beyond anything in the world. It was then when I wondered if he was asking me for a favour, or whether my quote was truly as cryptic as my character is."

"Your quote?"

He turned and smiled at her.

"A man's death is not the end." He said. "It is the beginning."

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"Wait, wait, that can't be right. My quote is 'Life is beautiful yet lethal, so don't hold it by the thorns.'?"

"What about me? Mine is 'The world is your playground. Have fun with it.'"

"Dudes, I got, 'I like big butts and I cannot lie.'"

"Well, that was the most accurate out of all of us." Horo said to Ryu witheringly as the others burst out laughing.

Hao laughed and got to his feet. "Hey guys, blame the book. Don't blame me."

"Where are you going?" Anna asked.

He did not turn around.

"I'm going for a walk."

Sumiko said nothing, the lemon wedged between her lips.

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Hao stood outside, his hands inside his pockets.

He let out the breath he was holding, and reached into his pocket and pulled out a lone cigarette, and lit it with a flame on his finger. The door shut behind him, and a soft chuckle immersed behind him. Hao smiled willfully. "I didn't even have to turn around to tell that it was you, my dear brother."

Yoh smiled softly, leaning against the wall.

"Less than half a week left, Hao." He said softly.

"I'm aware of that." Hao replied.

Yoh smirked, a smile that bore the trademark suitable of his brother. "What have you got planned out this time, dear brother?"

Hao turned and smirked back at him.

"I'm not going to tell you."

Yoh smiled softly. "Does it have anything to do with Faust not being at the hangout with us today?" he asked in a seeming innocent voice.

Hao chuckled and gave a gentle shrug, continuing to walk away from his brother. "I don't want to be a spoilsport." His voice seemed to trail into the distance, though they were mete centimeters away. But with every word he spoke he seemed to fade; to fade into the distance. "But I'll promise you this, dear brother." He turned. "I will not let him harm any one of you. And he will pay for everything he did in the end."

Yoh smiled warmly, and tossed a fruit at him.

A peach.

"Trash him, Hao." Yoh said.

Hao smirked and bit into it.

"Of course." He said, disappearing into thin air.

Yoh nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And good luck." He said softly. So soft that it almost sounded like a prayer.

Above stood Yoko and Malena, a small smile on both of their faces. "Worry about yourself first." Yoko whispered under her breath, licking her lips.

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Thunder crashes across the sky; phasing the wind for a minute before the battle becomes steadily yet ferocious. Time, close to midnight. A figure lies under the sheets; the sleeping figure of a resting old man. Yet another clap of thunder crashes across the sky and before him stand a young man, a look of pure triumph across his features. "Alas." He whispers in a voice practically quivering with excitement. "Here you lie. The day before your death." A thin streak of lightning cuts the sky in half.

"You old bastard."

Another figure approaches.

Three shadows, suddenly blinded by the sting of rain and the clap of thunder. The first count holds the stake, the second stands far with careful apprehension, and the third lies there in peaceful unknowing.

One for the murder, one for the answer, one for the crime.

It is as another clap of thunder slashes at the sky like a phantom when the dagger is brought down to the old man's chest.

END CHAPTER 7

The following three chapters will be the hardest chapters I think I will ever possibly do. Everything is carefully planned out; since the start of this chapter, so please try to read back and see if you can spot out several of the little clues I gave along the way. Chapter 8 will be breathtaking everyone!! And I also hope you all enjoyed that little Hao Sumiko scene I gave for all of you. And don't worry, that won't be the last one. So anyway, chapter 8. Does Yohmei die? What is Rukio's plan? What is Hao's plan? Will Yoh cheat on Anna? Will Horo and Pirika really leave? To end it all in three chapters. Everyone PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!!


	9. The Requiem of A Dream

The plot thickens! Is Yohmei dead??? Chapter 8, the countdown to the last two chapters begins!!!

CHAPTER 8

Yohmei did not have a funeral.

Kino wanted to keep it small and quiet; almost like she did not want anybody to know that he had died at all. All that remained a memory of him was the empty patch of soil that bared a cross above it in the backyard of Kino's house. A small breakfast was brought to service on the night after his death, and it was just Kino and the gang at the usual café where they hung out.

The joyful atmosphere had disappeared totally.

And as they sat there inside the café with the rain pouring down from the skies in buckets, only one thought was on all of their minds.

"_Who killed him?"_

"It was Rukio." Ejio said in a voice of struggled calm as he tried to stack a layer of his sisters' lemon peels with shaky hands. "I cannot find an explanation or a reason behind that, but I am almost absolutely sure that. . ."

"Then you have no evidence." Hao said quietly, settling his cup of coffee down to the table. All of a sudden everyone's' eyes were on him. Hao looked up from his coffee to Ejio. "We can accuse, we can suspect and we can point our fingers at anybody. But without evidence we can do nothing to him."

Anna now slowly rose up to her feet, her eyes were malicious and there was a definite arch in her eyebrow; and the look in her eye was one of warning and shrewd understanding. "What do you know that we don't, Hao?" she said in a dangerous whisper.

Hao merely looked back at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Anna." He said to her casually.

"I noticed that look in your eye when you were told of Yohmei's death." Anna continued, continuing to glare at Hao with such ferocity that it seemed like she was trying to look into his soul. "Is this part of your plan, Hao? And if it is, then what IS your purpose of letting Yohmei die?"

Even the waitresses on the side turned down the volume of the radio to listen to their conversation clearer.

Hao took a sip of his coffee calmly. "Now you're just trying to use me as a scapegoat to blame for your anger of a loss of someone you loved and respected. Personally, I'm rather torn up at the death of the old man goat too, but if you want to be with him **that **badly, then why don't you cuddle up in a blanket over his grave tonight?"

"Asakura!" Sumiko said sharply.

Kino, who was quiet the entire time, rose up to her feet, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Watch what you say, Hao." She said menacingly. "Or I'll send you to Hell, right where you belong."

Hao smirked.

"I won't like that very much." came a soft from behind them, and they turned to find Rukio standing before them, a slice of cake in his hands on a plate, one of his hands in his pockets, smiling at them gaily. "Because I would very much rather kill him myself."

Hao turned round to face him as the others rose to their feet.

"Relax." Rukio said soothingly. "I didn't come to fight. I just wanted to speak to Hao."

"I'll give you something more than that." Horo growled, his ice cannons bursting out from both sides of his arms.

Rukio took a furtive look at him, almost in approval. "Ice, eh?" he whispered softly. "Well, I won't mind killing you."

Hao stepped before him before he had a chance to attack, a placid look upon his features. "Lay a finger on any one of them, and I'll mutilate your face to an extent you would not find yourself able to face the public anymore." He growled.

Rukio paused, almost as if amused at the prospect before sighing and placed his cake on the table, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Just as well." He said, shrugging. "I'm not after anyone else in particular, anyway." His eyes skimmed the others of the group before landing on a shivering pink-haired girl and smiled. "Besides, that little lady might cry her eyes out if I kill you, anyway."

Horo, confused, turned round; Tamao's petrified face met his through the crowd.

And for once, he saw her.

"Tamao. . .?" he whispered.

"What do you want with me?" Hao asked, cutting the silence. "Not that I don't enjoy you dropping by and seeing me or anything. . ."

Rukio chuckled, relishing in the silence laid out for him.

"How would you like to finish things once and for all?" he said in a deadly whisper.

"Sounds good." Hao replied.

"Tomorrow at 1. I'll see you outside your house if you want to finally settle this once and for all." He pulled out hand to point at Hao's face. Hao didn't even flinch. Rukio smirked. "Please do not be late."

"I won't." Hao said.

Anna noticed his fists clenched, almost shaking in excitement.

She frowned.

"Well then, till tomorrow, I bit you adieu." Rukio said, turning around to walk away.

"Yeah." Hao said, his lip quivering hopefully. "I'll try my best to not splatter your blood all over the sidewalk tomorrow."

Rukio merely smirked and turned to walk away.

"Rukio." came a soft voice from behind him. His eyes widened; as did Hao's. It was not the tone that mattered, nor was it the timing. . .it was more of who the person was, and how she called him by his first name. Something she never did for Hao. Rukio turned to meet the eyes of Sumiko, which bore such immense sadness and sorrow.

In her hands she held the slice of cake.

"You forgot this." She whispered.

In his face wrought full of surprise and tenderness before it was once again taken over by that alien-like smirk and he turned away from her. "You can keep it." He said. "It might possibly be the last thing you enjoy on this earth, anyway."

Hao stepped forward, his fists clenched.

Rukio stayed sullen.

"It's lemon cake, by the way."

Hao paused in mid-step.

Nothing else was said, and Rukio slowly took his leave out of the café.

Nobody said anything after that.

All of them stared at Hao, who was staring over at his wife with a look of bewildered curiosity as he watched her eat up the cake in her hands slowly, a reminiscent look on her face, and at one point Yoh actually thought his brother would cry.

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_Three days and two nights to go._

_How funny the world finds itself on a completely parallel universe with the others, and suddenly on its own mind and orbit flips us into an obliviation. Into a land which is so dissimilar from what we used to be so familiar to. _

_Where man finds himself on his own, isolate from the others._

_Where a child can find itself crying out for a mother and never will be heard._

_Where a woman would search endlessly for her loved one on Valentine's Day all in vain._

_Where we all perish in the end, from dust to dust._

_It's a strange world._

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Midnight was the time for sleep.

But somehow, Sumiko found herself devoid of fatigue. Her eyes were continuously looking around the room, as though frantically searching for something that had disappeared long ago before finding out that that person and dream had molded itself into her husband; Hao Asakura. Almost at the sound of the devil, the door of her bedroom creaked open and there he stood, a broad smile on his face, grinning down at her. "Sumiko." He said, giving her a small nod.

"Hao." She said in a melancholy tone.

He raised his eyebrows, turning his full attention to his wife now, whose eyes bore nothing but fear, worry, and the reason deep beneath for the first two.

Love.

Her hair was tousled up on the top of her head, a book propped up in her hands, but he could tell that she had not read a single word since the second she opened it up. She sat prim and upright, looking straight at him as he crawled into bed with her, her face tight with disapproval and anxiety. He got into the blankets with her and drew his finger lazily against the smooth skin of her thigh, looking into he eyes lovingly.

"What's on your mind?" he said to her in a soft purr.

There was utter silence that followed that, and it was cruelly shattered by her painful sobs.

"Sumiko. . ." he whispered, his eyes wide. "What's the matter?"

"Hao, I'm scared." She whispered, her words throbbing with emotion. Her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of pulsating pain. She turned to him, and he was surprised to see tears falling down her cheeks. "I know we constantly quarrel and argue about meaningless things. . ." she started.

"Now, I don't think. . ." he started quickly, but was cut off.

"But I don't think I could possibly continue living if I lost you."

His mouth opened and shut; suddenly speechless, suddenly unable to find a single commonplace sentence out of the billions that he knew. Tons of girls had said this exact phrase after he broke up with them. . .

But none of them made his heart feel such a wrenching pain like this.

She turned towards him with teary-eyes, a sight that too his breath away. He gently caressed her cheeks, wiping away her tears benevolently. "Listen, Sumiko. . ." he said to her, looking deep into her eyes, and from that moment on, it very well seemed like they were the only two people left in the universe. "I'll never leave you. You understand that?" he stroked her palm comfortingly, something he always did to her to prove some sort of point. Either that, or get into her pants. He kissed her lovely, curious mouth before pulling away; just slightly, so he could still feel the warmth of her breath on his face. "Even if I die, I'll get out of Hell to come back for you."

She nodded, suddenly shy, suddenly abashed.

"Understand me?" he said, smiling.

"What are you planning to do, Hao?" she said, her voice soft with concern, her eyes gentle with compassion. "What are you up to this time?"

"Nothing." He said, and once again, there was that unfamiliar yet recognizable look back on his face as he started deep into her tranquil eyes. "I'm just going to destroy the man who made you cry."

"You mean yourself?" she said witheringly, and he laughed.

"Nope." He said, getting to his feet. "Not yet, anyway."

He was about to head to the bathroom when he felt her hand tugging his cloak, and he turned back to look at her, and his eyes widened at what he saw. Her face was ridden with not fear and concern like before, but lust. Pure, uncontrollable, undeniable lust. Her hands had drawn themselves to the back of her hair, undoing the knot, letting a waterfall of hair splash down on her shoulder. Desire weakened his heart at the look of her, and at that moment it seemed impossible for him not to take her.

"Hao." She said in a whisper so softly that her voice was like music heard faintly in the street outside a great concert hall.

"Yes?" he said, his voice hoarse.

She said something that he knew he wanted to do and always had done, but it was the first time since their marriage that she had requested it or begged for it. Her voice left her mouth like a song played only once a year, and he could not help but feel stiff at the mere tone of it, appreciating the beauty of the sound, or the familiar tune of the notes that played on her tongue he heard so often in his head but never from her lips herself.

"Take me." She said. "Please."

And he did.

He bent his head down to kiss her, one of his hands pressing down gently on her right breast, the other fingering the strap of her negligee playfully. A moan erupted from her throat, almost toppling him off balance, but he steadied himself, pulling the strap down, her left breast in plain view. He pulled away from her lips for a second to glance down, and licked his dry lips in feverish hunger.

"What's the matter?" she said to him lustily.

"Nothing." He groaned, cupping her breast, bringing it to his hungry mouth, earning an enticing gasp from her; a whimper following that as he licked the nipple soundly. "God, you taste so damn good." He said throatily, pulling down the other strap of her negligee, taking her other breast into his mouth, giving it the same ministrations and care that he did with the other.

"Oh my God, Hao. . ." Sumiko moaned, tugging at his hair with her hands.

He smirked and left her aching breasts and pulled himself down, tugging her nightgown upwards to view the dull white panties that she wore which were wet with excitement. "Well, well, look what we have here." He murmured, pressing soft kisses to her tender area, once again gaining appreciative gasps and moans from his loved one.

"Please, Hao, I can't take it any more." She cried out helplessly, tears almost welling up in her eyes. She tugged at his hair. "Please."

He grinned at her.

"As you wish."

In a swift movement he removed her of her nightgown and underwear, and as she lay there underneath him, naked and helpless, he felt a painful throb in his pants, and unknown tears that were starting to fall from his face. He removed his clothes and joined her as once, relishing her gasps and whimpers and moans as he entered her, feeling her fingernails digging into his back.

"I love you, Sumiko." He whispered.

She smiled at him; an action that always took his breath away.

"I love you too, Hao." She replied.

And he took her, taking his time as he did it; fully aware that pleasing her was on a much higher priority than pleasing himself, something he never quite gave a damn about in the past, even with her. Because he already gave them pleasure naturally in the first place. But this time was different. How many times she screamed his name he did not know, but all he knew was that she was enjoying it. Oh yes, she was enjoying it. How many orgasms she had was almost uncountable.

But it reached a point when he himself felt his limit reaching, and he tensed his shoulder, his hands stiffening, his eyes looking down at Sumiko in tender loving lust, a look that reflected across her face like a mirror.

"I'm going to come, Sumiko." He said, his voice echoing in her ears, pulsating her ears.

"Me too." She moaned.

Sweat mixed with sweat.

Fire erupted and coursed with fire.

Love entwined with love.

Until they all became one.

"HAO!!!" she gasped, gripping onto him helplessly, painfully. . .ecstatically.

"SUMIKO!!!" he roared, her hips bucking to meet him, and for the first time in years he came into her, something he was always able to control.

Not this time.

She was just too beautiful.

Just too damn beautiful.

And as they lay there on the bed, tired but not sleepy, aroused but not awakened, he smiled at her.

"Ready for another one?" he said joyfully.

"In a minute." She said, desperately trying to catch her breath.

He smiled and turned away.

They had never been closer in their years of love and marriage, nor communicated more profoundly with each other even through closed lips and unspoken words.

She brushed her lips against his shoulder, their fingers entwining together; the tips of his fingers touching the end of her fingers, as though she was asleep.

"Please don't leave me." She said quietly.

"I never will." He said tenderly. "Even through death."

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It was five in the morning when Horo found his sister sitting on the front steps of their household, her legs crossed, her hands entwined within each other, leaning against the wall behind her, her head propped up in an angle where she could only look up at the sky. He smiled at her and stepped up behind her silently, earning a jump from her as he shut the door behind him.

"Holy Moses!" she gasped, clutching her chest. "You scared me!"

"My bad." He said, chuckling. "Is that seat next to you taken?"

"Nope." She said simply, gazing up at the sky once again, which now had a faint colour of red; the first hint of a sunrise.

He paused.

"Thinking about Ren?" he whispered.

She stayed silent for a moment before nodding her head. Except it wasn't really a nod. A nod is when you bob your head up and down. Pirika merely lowered hers, and it never rose again, her head now facing the floor miserably. "Yeah." She said.

He sighed and patted her on the back.

"Need a hug?" he asked.

"Nope." She said, sniffling.

"Oh, yes you do." He said, grabbing her into his arms, hugging her comfortingly. And after a while, she hugged him back.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

"No problem." He said soothingly.

And above them rose the sunset, a beautiful blend that signified a wonderful day to come. Either that, or it merely showed the coming of blood; the red tinges that dripped across the sky.

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Morning had come.

Anna sighed and arose from her bed. "Funny how the things that you least look forward to, or dread to happen holds time by the hand and slaps you right in the face before you even know it." She mumbled, getting to her feet, scratching the back of her neck tiredly, opening the door of the room which she slept in, and came face to face with her husband, Yoh.

Extremely uncomfortable silence.

And it was as her eyes stayed fixated on Yoh's face when she noticed that his eyes never looked at her; as thought too ashamed to even meet eyes with her. She just looked him straight in the face unabashed. Somehow, it seemed like his embarrassment had instilled her with confidence. How long they stood that way she did not know, and she spoke, knowing they would never leave this spot unless one of them said something.

"Good morning, Yoh." she said; her voice unnaturally, deliberately polite.

He blushed crimson, looking, if possible, even further down at his shoes.

"Good morning, Anna." He mumbled in an incoherent voice.

She opened her mouth to say something; but quickly shut it once more at the remembrance of the past events. Especially what he had done. Or thought of doing, more like it. She nodded sullenly and tried to step past him, but he moved his body slightly so he blocked her path. His eyes finally met hers, and she flinched at the sight of pure sorrow within them.

"I never should have done what I tried to do, Anna." He said, heart-wrenching pain in every syllable of his words. "There's nothing that can be put into words of how much hatred I have for myself at the moment." He swallowed something that seemed to hurt his throat immensely, like there was something jammed between his gullet and his stomach; words he wanted to speak to his wife, the woman that he loved. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I don't know how to explain it, but I hope you believe me, Anna. I'm begging for you to believe me."

He was just so pitifully cute that she wanted to hug him in her arms and kiss him on the cheek and tell him everything was going to be alright.

She wanted to forgive him.

Hell, she already did.

But her touch on him was off-boundaries, right?

She shrugged past him, nodding, almost to herself in a self-satisfying head bob.

"I understand, Yoh." She said. "I'll see you when I get back from work."

He paused before shutting his eyes miserably.

"Okay." He said softly.

And without a word, he heard the door shut; a very visible device to divide him and his wife apart. He sighed and sat down on the floor miserably.

"Where did I go wrong?" he asked himself, his voice echoing through the hollow halls of the empty household. And nothing but silence answered him.

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Rukio had not slept at all.

He was awake the entire night, deliciously eager for the day to end, to bring forward his confrontation with Hao, the one man he was never able to beat. He looked at his clock, possible the umpteenth time so far, and sighed as he realized what the time was. He leaned against his bed-head, bored as the day was young. "It's still the morning." He muttered under his breath impatiently.

"It's still the morning."

Footsteps approached him, and he opened a lazy eye.

"Well, these last few days certainly have been taken up a lot with the meeting of old friends." He said with a sarcastic smirk, sitting upright in his bed. "What can I do for you, Ejio?"

Ejio stayed silent for a moment, nothing moving except for the smirk on Rukio's face, which was widening after every passing second.

Then, like those moments when you're watching a DVD and you reach a boring part in the movie and fast-forward it and find out to your shock that the main character died in the last scene; Ejio burst forward with a terrible thirst to slash at the man before him, but froze in the action as an ice-pick cracked out from the ground underneath, hovering just centimeters away from his throat.

"_Holy Crap."_ Was all that Ejio could think. _"I didn't even see the bastard move. Not a muscle."_

"You might want to cool off with that for a moment." Rukio said in a falsely soothing voice. "Or I'm going to have to hurt you."

Ejio's eyes were wide, but they were maliciously glaring at the man before him.

"What are you here for, anyway?" Rukio pressed on. "Surely you didn't just come here for an unsuccessful attempt to kill me. Very poorly done, I might add. Your sister would be disappointed in your performance."

Ejio paused before nodding sullenly, gaining his cool once more.

"You truly have strengthened." He said solemnly.

"To heights even you cannot possibly imagine."

Ejio fell into a state of silence for a moment before stuffing his hands into his pockets, looking forward, not breaking eye contact with Rukio at all. "Are you really planning to fight against Hao Asakura?" he asked him.

"Of course I am."

Ejio's face split into a grin, a smile of happiness that Rukio had never seen him carry before.

"That's good." He said softly. "This would finally teach you a lesson to make my sister cry all these years."

A nitrogen bomb, once exploded, sends a fissure of diffusion of electronic power to all circuits in the area around it.

Silence filled the room, but the pressure passed between the two of them seemed to crack and splinter the walls around them like needles through holes across the surface.

"You're saying I'm weaker that him?" Rukio said in a menacing deadly whisper.

"That's precisely what I'm pointing out to you." Ejio said through clenched teeth.

And they smirked at each other, laughing at the others' stupidity, trusting fully in their own beliefs, not knowing of the fissure bomb that was going to be dropped upon them that was going to prove them of their dumbness in their own ways in no time at all.

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Anna twirled the pen between her fingers.

The day was going by dreadfully slowly; much slower than the others days at work, and she didn't know if she dreaded the end of the day more, or if she just wanted to get the damn thing over with. She bit her lip and looked out of the window, the paperwork before her totally forgotten.

"What's up with you?" Yoko said, stepping up to her calmly, a cup of coffee in her hands. When Anna gave no reply, a small smile surfaced upon her lips. "Ah, you're thinking about Yoh." At the sound of her husband' name, Anna looked up sharply, curiously, as though only just hearing her friend's voice. Yoko placed her coffee cup down and grinned at Anna. "Hey, good news. This whole thing might just be over in no time. I already got the calls made. It's been about a month already anyway." She smirked. "You ready to put your husband to the test?"

Anna blinked.

Ah.

The week was almost over.

"When. . .?" was all she could say hoarsely.

"Anytime." Yoko said, poking at her coffee cup, making the drink inside tremble. "Any time you want. Be it today or tomorrow. Any day, pretty much." Yoko smirked. "You ready for this? Either you get closer to your husband that you have ever been to. . ." she picked her cup up. "Or he cheats on you, and you two break it off straight away."

Anna picked up her own cup of coffee, sighing in resignation.

"Just like doomsday." She said gloomily.

"Yep." Yoko said happily. "The Armageddon cometh."

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Dinner time.

Rukio looked around his house for something to eat.

Dry cereal.

He sighed gloomily.

"A sound diet brings forth a sound mind." He said moodily, grabbing the packet of cereal and spraying it into the bowl before him.

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"So. . .you're basically eating your last lunch in the coffeehouse?"

"Don't say it that way." Hao said, eating his steak savagely. He, Ren, Horo Horo, Pirika, Sumiko and Anna were sitting at the usual table, eating dinner with Hao. "I'm just having a meal here before going onto the battlefield." He grinned at them goofily.

"Is this dude strong?" Horo asked, interested.

"I don't know, to tell you the truth." Hao said, through mouthfuls of meat.

"Can we go over and watch you pound the stuffing through him?" Pirika asked excitedly.

"Oh, I don't think so. . ." Hao said hesitantly.

"Whoa, where did the confident Hao Asakura go to?" Ren said coyly. "I thought you would be boasting your nipples off about you trashing him flat."

"Boasting his nipples off?" Pirika asked with raised eyebrows.

"Seems like someone is not fully confident of his skills to beat an apprentice of his." Anna said dryly.

"Is that true, Hao?" Sumiko said, turning to her husband.

Hao paused.

"Of course I'm confident." He said, with seemingly perceptible reluctance.

"Then it's settled then." Horo said, rubbing his palms together with coherent glee. "We'll head over after this to see Hao beat the crap of some loser who thinks he can top him."

Anna suddenly felt a sick feeling in her gut, like something extremely bad was about to happen, and the others just did not know about it. Were her dreams a sign? Or were they just a bout of paranoia? She clenched her fists. She would just have to stand by the sidelines and watch for herself. She didn't think that Hao would need much of her help, but if things go ugly, then she would be there to help him out.

"_I won't let you die." _ She thought to herself furiously.

It was at that moment when he turned to her, such a pensive quality across his features, and suddenly she wasn't sure if she knew him or not.

"Anna." He said to her solemnly.

"Yeah?" she whispered throatily.

"Can you do me a favour?" he said to her, in such a calm and serene voice that if they spoke over the phone she would have mistaken him for a father.

"What?"

"While I'm fighting Rukio, I want you to go to Yohmei's house, and bring Kino along with you as fast as possible. Understand?" He said slowly and steadily, as though speaking to a five-year-old child.

"Ren," Anna said, turning to the Chinese boy. "I want you to. . ."

"No, Anna." Hao said softly, cutting into her words. "I want you to do it."

Silence befell her as she started at him in fazed, unflattering curiousity.

He covered his hand over hers, reassuring.

Sumiko saw this action, and bit her lip.

"I want **you** to do it." He said to her clearly. "You understand me?"

Silence.

Even the waitresses by the side of the table were waiting for Anna's answer.

"Yes." She whispered softly.

"Then it's settled then." Hao said happily, his hand leaving Anna's.

Sure, Anna hated him.

Sure, Anna wanted him dead so many times that her hatred could not be numbered by her fingers and toes.

So why did she feel a sudden chill, a sudden emptiness as his hand left hers?

Hao got to his feet, a small smile on his face.

"Well, then." He said. "I guess we should get going, shouldn't we?"

His words sank into them until they finally processed the meaning of it, and they all got to their feet at the same time, a wordless motion that would someday be remembered with some sort of significance, but Anna just could not put a finger on it at the moment.

Hao turned to Anna, his hands in his pockets.

"I'll see you soon." Hao whispered, as he left the coffee shop, Ren and the others trailing behind him.

Leaving Anna there alone.

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Rukio was almost tired of waiting.

His legs were crossed on the front steps of Hao's house, his head leaning against the front door, his tongue clicking incessantly until even he himself could not stand it anymore. "Where the Hell is he?" he murmured impatiently. Suddenly, the lemon tree not far from the house rustled, and a plain leaf fluttered from it, floating lazily before him.

Then it crackled in mid-air by the pressure in the surrounding air.

Rukio smirked and got to his feet, his eyes never leaving the man who was stepping into garden, not once taking notice to the people behind him.

He grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"You ready for death, Hao Asakura?" he whispered.

"Not as ready as you should be for the coming of Hell's Mouth."

Rukio grinned and a pale finger slowly pointed itself at Hao, and a pale sheet of ice burst out at him. Hao merely batted it away with his finger lazily. But the next second Rukio was behind him, an ice pick in his hand, holding it at Hao's throat.

Without even a wrinkle on his coat.

"I'm more dangerous that you can imagine, Hao." He whispered.

Hao smirked and nodded, fire bursting out of him, causing Rukio to jump away in alarm.

"Not bad." He said. "Let's go then."

The Spirit of Fire flew out from behind him.

"You have no idea how happy you just made me by saying that." Rukio said, licking his lips, the Spirit of Water bursting out from behind him.

"HOLY COW!" Horo gasped.

"Things might just get nasty." Ren muttered under his breath, Pirika clutching onto him, petrified.

Sumiko clutched her fingers together as a silent prayer, terrified.

"Please, Lord. . ." she whispered to herself between clenched teeth. "Don't let him die. Please don't let him die. . ."

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Anna was slowly walking to Yohmei's house, her brow furrowed, her fingers rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Why did Hao want me to fetch Kino? He knows she's clearly no match for Rukio." she muttered to herself. "What was his purpose?" She continued walking, and suddenly it seemed that with every step that she took, the horrible sense of self-dawning seemed to befall her.

"Get away." She whispered. "Leave the scene."

Her eyes widened.

"_Yohmei's the only person in the world that Rukio fears."_ She remembered Ejio telling her during dinner, a serious look on his face.

Hao wanted Anna out of the way.

He wanted her to. . .

Her mouth hung open in horror.

"Oh my God. . ." she whispered, her legs catching off in a run, just praying that she could make it back to the scene in time.

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Hao was having the clear upper hand.

While Rukio's spirit was larger than his, it once and for all proved that size did not matter. The Spirit of Fire swept from left to right, slashing the Spirit of Water in places it had never been cut before, the large creature seeming to diminish and get smaller with every passing second. Rukio was frustrated, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, while Hao still had his arms crossed upon his chest, a look of calm and understanding on his face.

It was as the Spirit of Fire took one last slash at the Spirit of Water, earning a howl of pain from both the creature and the owner, and the Spirit of Water fell to pieces.

There knelt Rukio, breathing hard, his position looking just like a man who had been completely beaten by a man totally out of his league, and he was begging for the man to let him live. Hao looked down at Rukio, a soft look of disgust on his face.

"Is that all you've got?" he whispered.

Rukio's teeth barred as he got to his feet, the sweat falling from his face never ceasing to fall. He wiped his forehead. "You son of a bitch." Rukio growled out. "I'll kill you if I have to. Then I'll murder Sumiko after you die."

Hao nodded his head softly.

"Ah." He whispered. "Is that so?"

Rukio roared out in anguish, his hands held out to the heavens like a plea. And for a moment there it seemed like there was an answer. Large walls of ice started bursting out right, left and center, creating somewhat of an arena for him and Hao.

"Now." Rukio said, a wide grin on his face, pointing a finger in Sumiko's direction.

Hao's eyes widened.

A large ice pick burst at Sumiko's direction, and she let out a gasp in horror. But the next moment it was over, and Hao stood before her, a burst of fire emitting out of his hands, glaring at Rukio menacingly. "You sick son of a bitch." Hao growled.

Sumiko watched her husband's clock billowing before her face, and she reached out to touch it with trembling hands, but the next second he was gone with the wind, and was right before Rukio, his hands ablaze.

"Hao." Sumiko whispered.

The requiem of a dream.

END CHAPTER 8

Chapter 9 will the most thrilling and exciting chapter of all chapters in this story, so please look out for it!!! The happenings of Yohmei's death, Hao's destination, the conclusion on Yoh and Anna's troubles, and Horo and Pirika's leaving day edging closer and closer by the seconds. Please read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need at least 10 reviews :)


	10. Life and Death

And alas, everything finally unfolds. Chapter 9. The second last chapter.

CHAPTER 9

Footsteps; the soft, almost musical-like pattering brought down upon the ground with each step like the ghostly rhythm to a song, a serene atmosphere brought upon the almost gruesome scene with haunting definition. Darkness fell and light was brought upon. The footsteps echoed throughout the entire area until it slowly beat down to soft pats onto the ground below.

Hao heard the soft approach of the stranger, and he smiled.

There across the aftermath of a battle stood Anna, her mouth gaped open in horror, staring at the nightmare before her. Hao looked directly at her, a thin line of blood escaping from his shut lips, his eyes never leaving hers, a small smile filling up on his face.

It was the same smile she saw in her dream.

The haunting eclipse from a picture that sketched and buried itself into her mind.

The smile ready to end it all.

The smile ready to die.

Blood.

Pure, innocent blood.

And just by looking at Hao's face one would never realize that there was something oddly eerie about the picture. Nobody would have guessed that besides a small wound across his lip and a trickle of blood slowly dripping out of his mouth that Hao Asakura was any other than lightly wounded.

Nobody would have thought to look beyond that, and realized that there was an ice pick pierced through his chest.

Blood blended with the water as ice cubes did in red wine; the colours from the portrait before Anna drawn with such expertise she almost fell under its trance of such unrivalled beauty.

But then it was over.

Rukio wrenched the ice pick out of Hao's chest in triumph and the man gasped, blood spilling out his mouth.

Sumiko remained frozen, her lip quivering, as though failing to realize what was happening before her.

"Asakura. . .?" she whispered.

Rukio merely stood there, basking in the moment of triumph, enjoying the looks of shock before him in glee; his fists clenched in victory. He glanced sideways at Sumiko who took a slow step forward every few seconds, her eyes staring at her husband in dismayed horror. He chuckled under his breath and turned to stare straight at Anna.

He grinned, his eyes livid.

"I told you." He whispered to her.

And Anna lost it.

"HAO ASAKURA, DON'T DIE, DAMN IT!!!!!" she screamed, running towards him.

"Anna!" Yoh gasped.

Anna was just a few feet away from Hao, her hands reaching out to touch him before a hole outstretched before her.

"No." she whispered throatily. "This can't be true."

A large, gaping hole was surfacing below them. . .no, more like, the ground seemed to be melting, and two red hands burst out from beneath the ground and grabbed Hao, malicious laughter filling the entire area. The laughter of the devil.

"Oh my God." Ren whispered, his voice hoarse.

Anna's eyes were wide, large and petrified.

"It's Hell's mouth." She whispered.

Hao was still smiling as he let it take him; letting it swallow him within its depths.

"HAO!!!!" Anna screamed.

He continued to smile at her, and her mouth laid hanging open, logic leaving her; for once helpless, her hands falling to her sides, her knees buckling.

Hao pointed in the direction of Sumiko, who was still staring forward at the scene, her eyes wide, tears falling down her face. Their eyes met, and the mouth hesitated; almost giving the two of them one last moment together. It waited for him to speak, but he didn't, and turned away from her to look at Anna one last time.

"Take care of Sumiko." He whispered, blood trickling down his mouth.

Rukio was laughing.

He was laughing so loud it very well seemed like he was trying to compete with the glee of the devil himself; having yet another prisoner.

And then he vanished from view; the ice melting away through the ground along with the rippling flames around them. The battle was complete.

And so did Hao, disappearing into the hole in the ground, the melting earth patching itself up with a further layer of dead soil and dirt, tainted red with blood.

Within seconds, silence befell the area once more.

The holocaust was complete.

And yet the maniacal laughter was still ringing in their ears.

Somehow, Anna couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes.

"Hao cannot be dead." She said through choked sobs.

But yet, somehow he was.

"Are you planning something again, you sick bastard?" she whispered. "Because if you are, I'm going to dig you up and kill you myself."

Hao was always surprising people.

Keeping them questioning.

Even up till his dying day.

Was he dead?

Or was he still alive, chuckling in a corner somewhere about his own brilliance?

Cities fell.

The Earth opened.

Planets tilted.

Stars plummeted.

And the awful silence.

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For once, everyone was quiet.

There they sat in the coffee house, not a sound coming out of anyone's throats as they simply stared into their coffee cups, still struggling to comprehend the truth of past events. Hao was dead, something none of them ever dared to believe since the first second they met him. The man was an immortal. How the Hell did one slay an immortal?

Once every so often one would glance over to look at Sumiko to see if she was alright. But contrary to herself a few hours before, she was merely sitting down in her seat, staring at the clock on the wall, a lemon loosely hanging from her lip. Nobody would have guessed that just a few moments ago her husband was brutally murdered by her ex-fiancée. The soft ticking of the clock on the wall resounded across the table, a constant sound that none of them found irritating or present till now.

Sumiko slowly rose to her feet.

"I'm going home now." She said softly.

Nobody said anything, and after bowing to them slowly she tucked in her chair and took her leave from the group. Eyes followed her as she made her exit; the pitying stares toward a widowed woman. It was only as she left when they let out the breaths they were holding.

"Two deaths following the entrance of Rukio Makoto." Kino said miserably, setting her tea cup down on the table. "I wonder how many more lives have to be taken by this man before he's satisfied?"

All of a sudden the coffee shop that always brought them warmth seemed so cold, despite the hot cups of coffee before them.

Anna crossed her arms across her chest, shivering slightly as a chill went down her spine. Yohmei was dead. Hao was dead. A madman was still loose, out to kill a friend of hers that she cared for so much. A madman with the capabilities to kill Hao Asakura, the strongest man in the world.

It really **was** cold.

Suddenly warmth filled her as a coat was placed around her, her husbands' hands resting themselves on her shoulders. She turned to see him smiling down at him comfortingly. "It's getting late." He said in a soft whisper. "It's past midnight, and you have work tomorrow."

Almost in self-realization at his words, the others got up from their seats oddly and dropped spare change out of their pockets onto the table carelessly. "I still cannot believe that Hao's dead." Chocolove said, aghast.

"That's so unlike you." Yoh chuckled. "I thought you would be rhyming words with 'tomorrow' now. Like. . .Jack Sparrow. . .or give a car a tow or something." The others stared at Yoh in shock.

"Yoh, your brother's dead." Manta said uncomfortably. "Wouldn't it be bad to his memory to make such a. . ."

"My brother might be dead in person, but he's certainly not gone in spirit." Yoh said calmly, holding Anna close to him. He turned to smile at the others. "Don't worry." He said confidently. "Everything will be okay in the end."

Anna's expressions softened.

"Yoh. . ." she said softly.

"We should get going." Yoh said soothingly, escorting her to the exit. "It's going to be a hectic day tomorrow, I can just tell it."

The black clouds seemed to disperse at his words, and the troubles along the skies seemed to clear, departing for the sun to shine forth.

Outside on the roof sat Rukio, Malena and Yoko, surveying them from above. Rukio ate the lemon cake in his hands calmly. "That brother of Hao is indeed someone who can make even the Heavens stop crying." He chuckled, nodding approvingly. "Just as well that they have a little ray of sunshine with them. If they keep mourning over Yohmei and Hao's death, it would be really boring for me."

"So what do you plan to do now?" Yoko asked him curiously.

He turned to her lazily. "Isn't it obvious?" he said mundanely. "I've got two of the people that held the biggest threat to me out of the way."

"That's good, isn't it?" Yoko said.

"Not yet." Rukio murmured softly through layers of cake. "There's still one more person standing in my way."

"And who's that?"

"Idiot." Malena said impassively. "Anna Kyoyuma."

Rukio grinned at her. "How fast you catch on." He said, finishing his cake and got up to his feet, brushing his pants from the dirt. "Two down, one more to go before I lunge for the kill." He licked his lips as he watched Sumiko slowly walk away. "Prepare an open casket at sea for yourself, my love." He said softly.

"Are you going to kill Anna?" Yoko questioned him, breaking his silent monologue.

Rukio turned and chuckled lightly. "Nope." He said.

"Nope?" Malena said incredulously.

"Nope." He repeated. "Anna has powers able to surpass Hao, and fighting against Hao made me realize how much I was behind him." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I won him by defeating his heart, and he died protecting the woman he loved." He paused and sat back down to his feet, resting his chin on his palm, smirking slightly. "I can't win Anna by strength. And those you cannot win by strength, you win through. . ." he grinned at them, waiting for them to append his sentence.

"Her heart." Malena said softly.

Rukio nodded and grinned at her with a crooked smile. "That's right." He said. He watched the gang walk out of the coffee shop; solemn looks on their faces, yet it was brighter from what it was before. Gloom without despair, loneliness without being desolate, strength beyond strength.

His eyes followed the brother of his past master slowly and licked his lips. "I'll break you, you confident bastard." He said, getting up to his feet steadily. "I'll shatter you into a million pieces." His eyes were venomous with pure monstrous excitement. "Then I'll see how you can maintain that stupid smile on your face."

Yoko let out an involuntary shiver and Rukio turned to grin slyly and Malena. "We only have two days left." He said to her silkily. "Destroy the relationship that both he and Anna share by tonight."

"How will that get her out of your way?" Yoko asked curiously.

But Malena was smirking at Rukio knowingly; as he was to her.

"Understood." She said.

"I know you do." He replied.

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Yoh and Anna made their way home in silence, neither of them making a sound as their synchronized footsteps did the talking. When he paused for a minute to look up at the skies she paused with him. When she slowed down to walk against the shuddering wind, he slowed down just for her.

It was as he slowly fell to the same rhythm as her; the same heartbeat and the same speed when she stopped in mid-step, throwing him off balance. She was looking down on the floor, avoiding his gaze fidgety.

"Yoh." She said uncomfortably.

"Yeah?" he said hopefully.

"Can you please let go of me?"

He realized he was still holding her in a tight embrace, and let go of her in a hurried move, stepping away from her quickly. "I'm sorry." He mumbled under his breath.

"It's alright." She said awkwardly.

He paused, suddenly extremely interested in a nearby flower, Anna scratching the back of her head in a seemingly offhand moment before clearing her throat and stepped forward without him, their pace on different terms for once. And all it took was that one moment for him to realize something eerie happenings to the both of them and their tumbling marriage. She was escaping, and he was letting her.

Where did they stand, now that they were crumbling to pieces?

"Kyoyuma." He whispered out to her, ever so distant.

She stopped, her eyes wide.

The world stopped turning.

Voices stopped speaking.

And the wind stopped beating down upon their ashen faces.

And Anna slowly turned round to face him.

"W. . .what did you just say. . .?" she said dryly.

It was then when her phone chose the best moment to ring. The two of them continued to stare at each other, the screams of the cellphone unheard in the vortex the two were trapped within. The vortex, though isolate, brought them together as one once again.

Husband looked at wife.

Wife looked at husband.

An unspoken conversation took place.

"_Is this. . .the end?"_

And then they were brought back to reality, and Anna tore her eyes away from the man she loved and answered the phone with hesitant hands. "Hello?" she said distantly, her eyes trailing back to Yoh, who was looking back at her hollowly. Then she paused, her eyes wide with shock. There she stood, listening, understanding. . .unspeaking. And finally she put the phone down, placing it back into her pocket with trembling fingers.

"Who was that?" Yoh asked her.

She did not reply, a defeated sigh across her features. She looked at him, almost as if for the last time and turned to walk past him. "Nobody." She said quietly. "Let's head back."

He watched her leave, her footsteps unequal with his; not waiting for him or looking back to see where he was. She had made her mind up about something, and he had an uneasy feeling it had something to do with him. With a depressed sigh he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked after her steadily.

And in a car behind them, a young lady with different coloured eyes slowly burned up the picture of the once happy couple; the married duo cutting up the wedding cake together. She smiled grimly.

"Welcome to the end." She said in a sour voice, a crooked smile appearing across her features. "Or should I say. . . Accueillir à La Fin."

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It was midnight.

Sumiko once again found herself devoid of sleep. Her book was propped up before her in a perfect angle for her reading viewing. But her eyes merely skimmed the same lines over and over again without even realizing it; and when she finally snapped out of the reverie she was in she shut her eyes tiredly, rubbing her thumb and forefinger along the bridge of her nose.

Time to sleep.

She got up to her feet and made her way slowly and gracefully over to the windowsill and found herself staring straight into the eye of the luminous moon; an eye peeking through the Heavenly Gates down to the earth below. She made motion to step outside, but found a thick coating of invisible barrier before her, and sighed under her breath.

Of course. How could she forget. Anna had placed the strongest spell she could muster over the entire house; making it downright impossible for anybody to enter as long as there was a single breath in her body. Sumiko let a small weary smile escape her lips. Anna was indeed strong. Never would she be able to create such a powerful void like this; despite her many years of being an oracle.

She laughed bitterly.

She loved Anna for her care.

And hated herself for her lack of strength and inability to protect those that she loved.

_Hao's features flashed through her memory once more._

_His gentle smile, his loving caress._

"_Take care of Sumiko."_

Till the very end he was protecting her.

And all she could do was watch him die.

She slammed her fist against the wall before her angrily, her lip trembling. The night never felt so cold before. The wind was felt through the shut windows, the dready howl of the night seeping past concrete to haunt her dreams.

She remembered a time where she could spend a year in this sort of conditions out in the cold alone. She could sleep in the middle of a blizzard, walk through a sandstorm and stare into the Gates of Hell without a thought.

But then here she was.

"You've spoilt me." Sumiko whispered. "You cracked the surface."

Midnight.

And a minute passing.

"Not for the first time."

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Anna received one single missed call on her phone as the clock ticked a minute past midnight exactly, and sighed. So it was time. The point of no return. She got up to her feet and switched off the television before her. How long she stood there before the blank television she did not know, and it was only as she saw the approaching headlights of a car before their front door when she realized that she could stall no further.

She could not defeat time.

Nobody could.

What you could do was to try and stall time; try to pace yourself to a slower rate than possible, hoping to miss current events and jump back hours later to see how everything went. But we never win.

Time always does.

She took steady strides to her husband's room where he lay lying on the floor with the earphones over his ears. His back was facing her, but the moment she stepped before him he turned around; the state of marriage bringing them to a stage where they could simply tell each others presence without verbal contact.

He faced her, one side of his earphones drooping down below his ear, and he looked up at her. His trademark goofy grin was nowhere in sight, and he was looking up at her emptily. "Yes?" he asked her.

Somehow his words came out so foreign, and she struggled to comprehend.

"I'm heading out to see if Sumiko's okay." Anna said softly.

The usual Yoh would have asked to come along.

But he merely nodded.

"Alright." He said. "Take care."

Her heart sank and nodded, turning away from him. "I'll. . ." she said, her voice losing itself in her throat, tears threatening to break across her face. ". . .I'll see you when I get back, then." She finished in a choked voice.

"Okay." He replied.

And without a second look at him, she shut the door behind her and made her way to the front door of her house to find Malena standing there in a beautiful black dress that accentuated her curves, if possible, even more. The very look of her would turn any man into a puddle at her feet. She smirked at Anna, patting her lightly on the shoulder. "I'll try to make this short and sweet." She said sarcastically.

Unable to find it within herself to speak, Anna turned and walked away.

On the rooftop, Rukio and Yoko sat, smirks on their faces.

"Let the show begin." Rukio whispered.

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Anna slowly made her way down the streets, the wind whisping her hair across her view. Then came the horrid cry. The screeching caw of the raven as it screamed on a tree branch on the huge oak that stood before her at the end of the park lane. She paused, thinking her thoughts over.

Then came her whisper, both as a question as it were a prayer.

"Would you remain faithful?"

Then came her answer; the shrill caw from the trees above.

The cry of the raven.

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Yoh lay down on the flat of his back, looking up at the ceiling above. "Was I too harsh?" he asked himself softly. Without an answer, he turned over to look over at Amidamaru, but then remembered he was out drinking with Bason and Tokagero. He sighed and rolled over, looking downwards at himself.

"It wasn't my fault, anyway." He mumbled under his breath. "She was the one who was ignoring me the entire damn month. She was the one who flinched to the slightest touch. She was the one who walked away from me, leaving me desolate and alone." His eyes filled with unknown tears, foreign to his taste. "And I'm sick of it." He paused.

"Sick of what, soldier?"

He blinked and looked upwards to see one of the most silky, milky white, beautiful slender legs he had ever seen. He literally held his breath as he looked further upwards to find a woman in a tight black evening dress, a wine glass held loosely in her hand. She smirked at him. "Checked me out enough?"

He blushed and sat upright, practically salivating.

"You're Yoko's friend." He said dryly.

"That I am."

"What are you doing in my house?" he asked her.

"No reason strong enough to back up my coming here past midnight." She said in a nonchalant shrug, an action that jumped her swelled bosom, and his eyes followed them dangerously, almost salivating now. And she knew she would have him eating out the palm of her hand in no time. "I hope you're fine with it." She said in a sultry whisper, drawing the wine glass to her lips, the drink sliding down her throat sensually, a thin line missing her lips, dripping onto her pale skin into her wonderful cleavage, dripping down the line between her breasts into her shirt.

Yoh shivered in almost to an extent of inappropriate hunger.

"Yoh?" she whispered.

"W. . .what?" he asked, drawing away from his raptous stare.

She smirked. It was almost too simple. "Where's your dear wife Anna now?" she asked him throatily.

"I. . .I don't know." He stuttered. "Out somewhere, I guess."

"Is that so?" she said, a small smirk adorning her face, dropping the empty wine glass onto the floor and got down on all fours before him. "So I guess she wouldn't mind if I just stay here with you for a minute, would she?"

"I. . .I guess not." Yoh said nervously.

Rukio, outside, grinned.

Malena licked her lips slowly, smirking up at him. "Excellent." She said, slowly making a move toward him, never breaking eye contact with him, and she could see him almost strapping himself down with lead chains to stop himself from touching her. Chains holding down a man were the easiest to break.

Samson broke himself by falling for a woman in lust.

Yoh was just about to do the same.

He was unconscious of the normal thoughts one would think when a woman suddenly entering ones room this late at night. One, why was she here? Two, he suspected Yoko, so he naturally should suspect this friend of hers too. And three, she gave him all the clues of a hidden agenda. And what would he do to that?

She drew a finger to his thigh, licking her lips. "I heard from Yoko that the relationship between you and your wife is steadily going downhill." She said in an offhand yet piercingly straightforward voice. When he flinched she drew a gentle finger to his face, caressing him in a way that would send any man to jelly. "Is it true that you haven't had the chance to. . ." her hand slowly slid down to press against his chest; his tender beating heart. "Hold her hand?" her hand fell snug into his, entwining hers with his.

His eyes were raptously staring into hers, gulping like a goldfish out of water, his breathing erratic and fast.

"Feel her lips against yours?" she drew on in steady breath, her lips inches away from his; so close she could almost taste his lips with his breath. "Have her hands on you?" came her voice onwards in a gentle purr, her hand gently rocking against his crotch, and he gasped out loud, but, to her smugness, he did not turn away.

Her eyes never left his, and slowly her lips inched towards his, taking one of his hands in a bold move and pressed it against the warmth of her breast. He literally groaned out loud, his hand shaking in animalistic desire. She licked her lips, literally taking his breath away once more. "Have your hands on her?"

A nod.

"You know what I'm thinking, Yoh Asakura?" she said throatily.

And through the smirk that maintained on her face in triumph came a small wince of pain as his lips crashed down ferociously over hers.

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Anna stood there, looking up at the tree in a transfixed stare. There was something haunting about the bird that stood perched up on it. The cry that sounded ever so bitterly a few moments ago, almost warning her of present or possible future events. The funny thing was not the fact that she was staring up at the tree in request for an answer, it was the fact that it was staring down at her the whole time.

"Should I go back?" she questioned it.

It stared down at her, cocking its head curiously before it perched and burst into the sky in a flurry of wings and feathers.

Stay, and be haunted forever.

Return, and find an answer.

Easy solution.

She smiled grimly.

"Take flight." She said softly.

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Yoh was hungry.

Not just for Anna, Heavens no. Suddenly he felt lust filling his veins, a small plain of drool forming across the side of his lip but he didn't bother to wipe it away, grabbing Malena's head downward into a forceful kiss. She moaned into it, but a chuckle came out of her lips at it, pulling away from him.

"You want me, don't you?"

Hell, yes.

"Then take me."

And he did.

Their tongues dueled against each other in each others mouths, his hands tearing off pieces of her clothing, his mind suddenly blank; devoid of anything other than the goddess before him. Her body was truly sculpted to beauty; her breasts were well-formed, a skin tight waist and legs that seemed to go on forever. He torn off the top of her dress and stared down at her wearing nothing under it in glee.

"Like what you see?" she said with a smirk.

Yes, he did.

His tongue snaked around her breasts, milking her hungrily, feeling her writher and giggle beneath him, her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, her eyes straught with passion and lust almost equaling his. But there was something else in there other than wanting. Was it glee? Triumph? A hidden pride?

Who gave a shit?

All he knew was that he was going to do her. Do her well. Not make love, but do her. And he was going to enjoy it as much as he could too. He was in the process to rip off the bottom of her dress when he paused when he realized what colour it was.

"You're wearing. . .black." he whispered.

She giggled. "You've just realized that now?" she said. "What were you trying to do just now, see through my dress the whole time?"

But he was not paying attention to a single word she was saying.

She was wearing a black dress.

A black dress.

_FLASHBACK A Girl Called Anna Chapter 7_

_"Wow."_

_Yoh was speechless. It was one too many a time where he just sat in one corner, dazing out into nothingness, thanking the Lord that he had Anna as his fiancée. She was sweet in her own silent way, smart, strong, beautiful, HOT, cool, which was pretty much the whole package. There were times where he would just be saying to himself "Anna Kyoyuma is my fiancée."_

_And it tasted sweet on his lips._

_This was one of those moments as he just stood there at the doorway, staring at Anna as she slowly stepped down the steps from her room, a small smile on her face. What she was was one thing. What she was wearing was another. It was a long, silky, black, hugging her curves in the right places, but flowed below her ankles. It high-lighted her bosom in an obvious yet classy way. _

_She was beautiful in every way._

Yoh turned away from Malena, his eyes suddenly brightening with self-dawning.

"What. . .am I doing?" he whispered to himself.

"What are you mumbling about?" she said playfully, grabbing his hand and placing it on the softness of her thigh. But she received no reaction, and Yoh slowly got to her feet. A faint sense of fear prickled her spine and she drew up to her knees, opening her mouth to speak when he threw a towel in her direction.

"I'm sorry for trying to rape you." He said softly under his breath, and her eyes widened. "It was because of a long distance away from my wife that caused me to act so irrationally." He looked away. "I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" she said nervously. "It's not rape if I want sex as much as you." She got up to her feet. "I don't mind you taking me at all."

"You don't." he said, already miles away from her. "But I do."

Her eyes bulged.

Here she was, half-naked before a man, and he was saying no to her?? This had never happened before. Her throat was dry, a thin line of perspiration appearing on her forehead. "You. . .you can't want her more than me." She laughed, feeling herself fighting a losing battle. His eyes were already faraway, and she was nowhere in them. "I'm more beautiful than she could ever be. I'm gentler. I have a better body. I have everything better than her!!! So. . ."

" But you're not her." He replied simply, and she fell flat in sentence. The moon was drawing away in the clouds, and there he stood by the window, his figure looking almost like a silhouette by himself, and in that moment he looked so much more than a man than he already was, surpassing all barriers. He turned to her, a small smile on his face. "What's the use of being better than her if you can't be her?"

Facing her dismal expressions he chuckled lightly and drew his hands into his pockets. "I don't know who sent you here or if you really do like me, but I'm sorry to say that I will never love you as much as I love my wife."

"Horse shit." She spat, losing all cool now. "She doesn't let you touch her. She doesn't even let you kiss her. She draws herself away from you for God's sake!!!"

"Then so be it." came his voice like beautiful music down an empty corridor. "As long as she still loves me, I will never leave her side." He gave her a sorrowful smile. "I think it's time for you to leave."

She had lost.

She was defeated.

By this man and his stupid smile.

It was as she got ready to leave when she heard the distinct sounds of a door closing, and the tapping of footsteps towards this room. Apparently Yoh heard it too, and turned to the source of the noise, smiling expectantly.

"Anna." He whispered.

When in defeat, drag someone down with you.

It's only natural.

Anna opened the door, gasping for breath from the run only to see her husband in the arms of a half naked young lady, her arms wrapping around his neck.

And somewhere above the house where they stayed, a man started to laugh.

00000000000000000000000000000000

Anna simply stood there, thunderstruck, her hands that were first curled up in fists sagging loosely by her sides. It was here when her life came crashing down to her feet, sending her somewhere where roses shed blood and tears faded into dust. Hours seemed to pass as she continued to stare at the horrific painting that was drawn before her until Yoh finally noticed her and flung the woman away from him.

She hit the wall behind him with a small cry, but a smirk started to steadily form across her lips. "Checkmate." came her soft whisper.

Yoh saw not only the anger and sadness in her eyes, but the ready tears of betrayal. The ready tears of adultery. "Anna, I can explain all of this." He fumbled with his words. "It's not exactly how it looks. . ."

She gave a hollow laugh. "That's an original one."

"Listen to me, Anna." said Yoh in a voice, to Malena's joy, etched with fear and desperation. The fear from a man whose marriage was about to fall tumbling down within the next few seconds. "This was set up by Yoko. I don't know why, and I can't explain why either, but. . ."

"Oh, quit with the bullshit." Anna said harshly, and he stumbled in his words, finally crashing. Her face showed none of sadness, but of anger and unaffected scorn toward him. "You cheated on me. That's the bottom line. No matter who put her up to this or why she put her up to this is none of our business. I could barely give beeswax about that. What I actually give a shit about is that. . ." she dropped in her monologue, choking on her words. "My husband didn't love me enough to stay faithful to me."

The words struck him hard, and his voice left him, staring at her with bulging eyes.

Anna bowed slowly and steadily to Malena, an action that Malena returned with a mere smirk of amusement. "A job well done." She said sarcastically.

"Thank you." Malena answered.

Anna gave her husband one last look. One last look of hate, one last look of sorrow, one last look of remembrance. . .

And then she was gone out the door.

Yoh stared forward, dumbstruck before turning to Malena, malicious anger boiling up inside him. "You dirty, filthy. . ." he growled with shaking fury before running out after his wife.

And there sat Malena alone.

She stayed sullen for a moment, looking up at the ceiling in a sigh. "Another job well done." She muttered under her breath. She shut her eyes. "What am I to destroy now?" Nothing replied her and she let out a short bark of a laugh. "Dirty and filthy. . .that's one way to put it, I guess."

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Anna was hurt.

Torn.

Demolished.

Destroyed.

Yoko was right about men from the very beginning all along, and Anna was just stupid enough to play along with the game. She ran down the empty streets; the same path that she took to the tree before, just that this time she was a shattered soul of what she was before. All she was was what she used to be.

But less.

She stopped running as she finally made her way back to the tree and knelt down before it. "I'm such an idiot." She said in a hushed sob, tears falling down her cheeks.

"No, I am."

She looked up to find Yoh looking down at her solemnly, a pale look of disintegration across his features. She wiped her tears away furiously. "I do not want to speak to you, Yoh." She said with a voice of struggled calm.

"Anna, I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I'm stupid, just so damn stupid. . .all I ask is for you to forgive me." He pleaded. "Just this once. I'll never do it again."

She looked away.

"It doesn't even matter anymore."

Above them, Rukio stood, smiling softly at the siege he had set.

The wind blew, rustling the leaves, scattering the trees within themselves. The bird had flown back onto its branch, wary and reproachful. It was cautious, but then it was also still curious. But then its curiousity was lost by its defensive state, and in seconds it burst into flight once more, escaping into the sky.

"I want a divorce, Yoh."

The wind caught up with it, catching it within its pale breath. And in that moment it was frozen; unable to move forward or behind. It was caught, and there was no escaping but to strive forward.

Yoh's voice stuck itself in his throat, a pale line of sweat slowly trickling down the side of his forehead. A mother and her child walked past them, laughing at a joke that only the two of them shared; a secret only the two of them will know about.

She must be joking.

She can't want a divorce.

She must still love me.

She can't. . .

She wouldn't. . .

She mustn't. . .

"Anna. . ."

"Don't try to talk me out of this." She said in a soft undertone. Her anger was gone now along with her sadness. And all that was left was a resolute heart. . .a determined heart. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. I was wondering if this loose marriage really was something worth fighting for since the start. . .I guess I'm simply not as important to you as I thought I was."

"Anna, don't say that. . ."

She got up to her feet.

"My mind's made up, Yoh."

Never had she looked so determined and confident of herself than she did at that moment. Her head was tilted upwards at the skies, her hands loose at her sides, one of her legs stood before the other in an almost defiant stance. And it was then when he realized how much he would miss her if she left him. . .and how she looked so damn beautiful before him.

If only a slap would succeed to bottle her anger.

But even he knew that this was something a smile could not suffice.

She turned to him, and there was a small smile on her face; making her look almost angelic. The smile was not one toward a loved one or the deadly one before advancing to a hated. It was neutral, and blended well with the night.

"Okay?" she said.

His mouth that had just opened to speak stopped and sagged, lost before her. She was there before him, yet she was worlds away from his reach. She gave one last sad smile to him before turning to leave. He got up to his feet almost instantaneously, but her hand placed itself on his shoulder and he lost his strength; his knees buckling, and fell back to the seat.

"I'm going."

And she walked away.

She kept walking and he kept watching her helplessly, his tears falling down his cheeks as her figure merely turned into an image, then to a silhouette then to the remains of a faded photograph.

And then she was gone.

And he broke down in heart wrenching tears.

Rukio above, got to his feet, his eyes gleaming with pure malicious pride.

"I win." He said, his eyes dark and poisonously gleeful of a champion; a champion whose life was burrowed in the shadows from a forever reigning champion. Whose life was cruelly finished.

"Hao Asakura."

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"_Sumiko. Do you love me?"_

"_Why would you ask me such a question?"_

"_That's because I never heard you say that to me before."_

"_Well then, do you love me?"_

"_Yes, as a matter of fact I do."_

"_Then if you do, Asakura, you should be able to take my answer in a rhetorical sense and find it within yourself, don't you think?"_

"_Now you're just teasing me."_

"_I don't tease. I just do not feel like answering your question."_

"_Is that right?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then can you answer me two other questions, then?"_

"_It depends on what they are."_

"_Why do you keep calling me Asakura?"_

"_Not going to answer that one."_

"_Well then, let me ask you another."_

"_Fire away, then."_

She was alone.

Yet again.

She could almost feel the dawn breaking; the requiem of the new day. She pressed her fingers against the barrier outside her window, a small feeling of queasiness prickling her senses when she felt her fingers slowly ease themselves through it, a cold rush of the night air brushing against them.

"Anna. . ." she whispered under her breath, a chill going down her spine. The ease of breaking a seal without really trying could only mean two things about the user, that user being Anna. Either she had a broken heart of some sort and her powers wavered, or. . .

"_I believe in the shifting of the universe, Sumiko. I trust in the change of time and the demonstrability of future happenings. But what I find difficult is the finding of a person whom you can trust yourself to fall in love with, and spend the rest of your life with."_

A cold rush of the evening air brushed against her shoulders, brought forward by the distinct rustling of leaves. A shadow tapped its feet onto the ledge of its window, a small smirk filling its face.

"_What are you trying to tell me, Asakura?"_

"_I guess what I'm trying to tell you. . .ask you, more like. . .is something that I never thought I would say, even to someone that I was in love with. I guess that's what makes me love you even more."_

There stood Rukio by her windowsill, a look of pure malicious glee across his features as he looked down at her; his Spirit of Water behind him, clicking its teeth menacingly. His eyes were pale and cold, blending in with the air he brought the atmosphere into.

"_Asakura. . .?"_

"_Sumiko Yakumo. . ."_

His grin filled his entire face and in a swift movement the Spirit of Water had her clamped in its hand, holding her up in the air, bare noses away from Rukio. And the master cocked his head, licking his lips.

"Hello, Sumiko."

"_Will you marry me?"_

Breathless, she took one last gulp of fresh air, her head filled with cold sweat. And Rukio, almost lovingly, wiped the sweat away with the back of his hand, placing a lemon into her mouth with a gentle caress.

"I'm sure as an oracle, you saw this day coming." He said. "The death of me, the entrance of Hao, the revival of me, the death of Hao. . ." his face split into a devilish grin. "And the death of you."

"_You want me to. . ."_

"_Yes, Sumiko. Marry me."_

"I didn't, actually." She said stiffly, the lemon dropping out of her mouth.

"Well, then. . ." he spoke slowly, almost deliberately, an ice pick forming in his hand. "I guess there are things even you cannot foresee." He smirked. "Who would have thought that the once ever-great Hao Asakura would get brutally murdered. . ." The Spirit of Water's right had was slowly churning, morphing into what seemed to be a huge blade of ice, glinting in the moonlight. ". . .by me?"

A lone tear fell from her face.

He grinned.

"Goodbye, Sumiko." He whispered, the blade now sharp and ready, steady meters away from her, ready to pierce into her. It churned and growled in an undertone, the moonlight glimmering against its pale frame.

"This is for leaving me."

Her eyes widened.

"_Will you marry me, Sumiko?"_

The blade burst toward her with tremendous speed, almost as if it were an alive with unstoppable animalistic hunger. Hunger to kill, hunger to pierce into.

The lust for death.

And Sumiko shut her eyes.

"Goodbye." She whispered softly, a tear falling from her cheeks.

"_Yes."_

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How long she had her eyes shut she did not know.

But all she knew was that the pain did not come.

The torturous ache in the side of her stomach from the ice pick that was charging at her with full speed. She felt the tears at the sides of her cheeks dry up and crystallize; the entrance of the new dawn breaking.

And she opened her eyes.

Flames burst out from all corners, almost swallowing the cold air with its warmth. And in her mouth was that lemon once more.

But it was not the sudden warmth in the air or the disappearance of pain that surprised her. Neither was the sight of Yoh and Anna standing across from her behind Rukio, their fingers entwined together, small smiles on their faces; Yoh's sword barely inches away from Rukio's face.

It was the billowing cloak.

The baggy jeans.

The air of cruel arrogance.

And that smug smirk.

That familiar smirk that she had grown so used to.

Rukio's face was daunted with shock and anger, confusion hovering across his features. "You. . ." he whispered, his voice filled with rage. "You are. . ."

The chuckle.

"Hao Asakura." He said calmly. The Spirit of Fire burst out behind him, a taunting grin spread across his features.

The features of the victorious.

"And come any closer to my wife and I'll kill you."

END CHAPTER 9

The final chapter, where everything finally comes into place. How did Hao escape the Gates of Hell? What is the secret of Yoh and Anna's breakup? What is to become of Malena and Yoko? Ren and Pirika, Horo and Tamao. And the true secrets behind the face-off between Rukio and Hao Asakura.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW IF YOU ENJOYED IT, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

I need at least 10 reviews. Surely that is not too much to ask?


	11. The Grand Finale Swan Song

The final chapter; concluding my ever-so-long time spent here in It has been fun, everyone! But now that I have finally completed this story, I want to finally get started on that novel I promised myself to write all those years back. I hope you've all enjoyed A Girl Called Anna 1 and 2 along with all my other stories. This will be my last story written here. I might be back to complete the chapters of my other stories or perhaps start small short stories, but this will be my final long story. Thank you for all your support thus far. Jack-adam salutes and thanks all of you. Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, thanks for those who replied my PMs those who haven't I would really appreciate it if you do and thanks for sticking with me. It has been fun, it really has.

CHAPTER 10 (FINALE)

"Hao. . .Asakura."

Rukio's voice left him in a pale whisper, his face slowly losing what colour was left of it. The remnants of his ice glacier had melted to a pool at his feet, soaking his shoes to the soles, flames licking at him dangerously. And there before him, ever so calmly, stood Hao Asakura in his billowing cloak, his body standing between him and the woman he wanted ever so badly.

Rukio gritted his teeth.

"You're. . ." he started.

Smirk.

"In the way." Hao finished for him, a silky grin forming across his lips. Rukio's eyes widened and gulped senselessly at the man before him. "I didn't even have to read your mind for that." He said, turning his back at his once-right-hand man. He smiled at Sumiko, who was behind him. "Are you alright?" he asked her lovingly.

She blinked, hearing the mirage before her; and it was then when she realized that a mirage was to be seen, not heard, and came to the realization of the person before her, and a strong surge of warmth filled her heart.

"A. . .Asakura. . .?" she said in a trembling voice.

He smiled warmly.

"Yes." He said. "I'm back. Sorry for putting you in so much danger and making you wait."

"This is bullshit." came a low growl from behind them, and Hao turned to see an utterly menacing place from Rukio, a thin plane of saliva dripping from his mouth, and he wiped it away in carelessly. "You're dead. You're supposed to be dead. I killed you with my very own hands. The mouth of Hell sucked you in. You're. . .you're. . .!!!" he paused, grieving and then lunged out, "What the HELL ARE YOU, HAO ASAKURA!!!???"

Hao chuckled.

"You're losing your calm, Rukio." He said. "That's quite unlike you."

"Shut up!!" Rukio growled. He was beaten, and he knew it. All that he stood for, all that he was, all that he triumphed in crumbled and burnt down; the ultimate demoralizing. He fell down on all fours, panting. "My plan was flawless. Yohmei died, you died, Anna Kyoyuma out of the way. . ." he turned behind to see Anna standing there, a smirk on her face. "So. . .so why. . ."

"Dumb ass." She said deftly. "Isn't it obvious? Hao was planning this all along. He built a safety net for himself, and it was just your bad luck you stepped into it." She cocked her head. "The one to lose is you, Rukio."

Rukio stared at her, dumbstruck.

Why. . .?

How. . .?

"I'll answer all the questions of a dead man." Hao said calmly, stepping forward, his Spirit of Fire smashing the Spirit of Water to the ground, sitting on top of it with a triumphed growl. "First of all, your brilliant plan. Though it was fairly smart for someone of your stature, I'm disappointed it took you so many years to think it out, and a merely evening for me to break it."

Rukio's throat suddenly went dry.

"You. . .took an. . .evening. . .?"

"After thinking your powers have increased to a tenfold, able to surpass me, you decided to cut through the Devil on the way out. That was merely ordinary; hundreds of people have succeeded in that before. All you did was buy yourself time to your appending doom, anyway." He threw his hand in the air in a careless motion. "Your brilliant plan had four steps to it. The first one was obviously to kill Yohmei Asakura. It was rather smart of you to find out the whole lie about Yohmei's strength. Though it was true he was a brilliant shaman, he weakened with age. I'm curious to find out how you figured that one."

When he received no answer, he shrugged and continued.

"Yohmei was murdered by you, and that was one step nearer towards getting Sumiko. But you still had three more steps to go." He showed three fingers, and drew them down slowly as he went along. "Your next step was murdering me. Fine, it was well done. I was caught off guard by you, and I was killed." He smirked. "Then after that was when you used real brilliance, and I'm proud of you for that."

"Shut up." Rukio muttered under his breath.

"Anna was in the way," he said lazily, and pointed toward Anna, who smiled mirthlessly. "So you needed her out of the way. But when realizing your lack of strength after fighting with me, you decided to use more vindictive methods. And that was with the use of Malena, the prostitute, and Anna's co-worker, Yoko."

Anna trembled, and Yoh held her shoulders comfortingly.

"So in order to get Anna out of the way, you had a desperate Yoh encounter with Malena, expecting him to jump on her. The plan worked, and Anna left the scene just like you planned." Hao's lips twitched. "Now that everyone you feared and was powerless against was out of your way, you went for Sumiko, just like you planned. But now, all those people you fear are back."

"Not all of them." Rukio snorted, struggling to his feet, remains of his dignity returning to him. "Yohmei Asakura's dead. I. . ."

"You. . .killed me?"

A heartbeat stops.

Almost in slow motion, Rukio turned around, only to find to his shock and horror Yohmei Asakura standing in the doorway, Kino by his side, a cup of tea in her hands calmly.

"Yohmei. . ." he said with bulging eyes. "You. . ."

"Checkmate." Hao said effortlessly. He cocked his brow, grinning. "The one to lost is you, Rukio Makoto."

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_Once we walk upon this earth, we are not alone._

_We have parents, relatives, and doctors who give us loving care. _

_When we turn older, we get more attention; friends, loved ones, probably even with the addition of a sibling or two. Our age does not define us, it is the company that we share that proves our existence._

_But what happens when you find yourself all alone, on top of a tall building, and cannot find the name of one single person who would miss you even if you died?_

_That's truly the bane of your own existence._

_And the defeat of your person._

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"You. . .you should be. . .you all should be. . .why would this. . ." First he spoke with such vigor and triumph, then he fell into shock, and now slumped into effortless, tireless defeat. "Why. . .?"

"No point in you knowing, but I guess I'll give a dying man his last dying wish." Hao said, stepping forward to him, an almost forgiving look gracing across his features. "First of all, your oh-so-brilliant plan to get Anna out of the way. It was something that I thought you would never do, because you're such an arrogant person."

"Just like his master." Anna muttered in the background.

"So after finding out your newfound modesty and cunning," Hao said, ignoring Anna's statement. "I decided to let Anna know about the entire situation."

_Anna tore her eyes away from the man she loved and answered the phone with hesitant hands. "Hello?" she said distantly, her eyes trailing back to Yoh, who was looking back at her hollowly. Then she paused, her eyes wide with shock. There she stood, listening, understanding. . .unspeaking. And finally she put the phone down, placing it back into her pocket with trembling fingers. – Chapter 9_

"She realized my existence, and told Yoh to play along with the plan that I had at hand. He did, and when you asked Malena over, the two of them staged the scene before you and the dear prostitute you ordered."

Rukio felt a shiver go down his spine as he turned to Yoh and Anna; their hands were entwined within each others. He gulped down wordless horror as Anna smirked at him and placed a kiss upon Yoh's cheek.

"That was one trick that Hao succeeded over you." Kino said calmly.

Rukio spun around and glared at her with deepest loathing, taking in the sight of Yohmei beside her and wiped the saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Yohmei was killed by me." Rukio said, shaking uncontrollably. "I brought the dagger down upon his chest with my very own hands. There was no way that he could have faked that."

"Oh, but there is." Yohmei said, chuckling. "Care to share it with him, Hao?"

Hao nodded lightly and took a shuddering step before Rukio. And in that step, a strange shadow brought itself upon him; morphing him, mutating him. . .changing him. And in that split second as he stepped out of the darkness, he was different, and he was. . .

"Ejio." Rukio whispered.

And there before him stood Ejio, an unusual smirk that Hao always carried upon his face. "I have many hidden powers, Rukio." The man before him said, a smug tone he knew ever so well. "Many of which even myself does not know. One of them, however, is the ability to control people's minds; a trick that I used years back. . ."

"I'm not particularly fond of that one." Yoh said from behind calmly.

"And another one, a trick that I used on you, is the ability to morph." He said, a strange glint in his eye. "Something that you took hundreds of years to perfect."

"How did. . .how did you. . .?" Rukio asked questioningly.

"How did I know you had a similar ability?" Hao said, cocking his head. "That answer's simple, actually. I doubt you will still remember it, but we used it at the same time to each other at one point of time."

Rukio's eyes widened.

"When was. . ." he started.

But then he remembered.

"That first meeting that Hao-san and I were supposed to have in the café, discussing about you." came Ejio's voice, appearing from the doorway behind Kino and Yohmei, a small smile on his face as he sat himself down on the floor, slowly picking up ice picks to set up in a mini-tower before him. "You overheard our conversation like Hao planned, and Hao told me to meet him at another day while he tested the fact if you could morph into the shape of another."

_Hao entered the café, only to find it completely devoid of people except for a young boy who was piling up a small tower of orange peels. He smirked and walked over to him and sat down across from him. The boy looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Well, you're only ten minutes late." the boy said shrewdly. "How do I know that it's really Hao Asakura standing in front of me?"_

"_Well, I guess you can simply go by my word." Hao said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Good choice with the place, by the way. The food clearly sucks."_

"_No, I just used my incredibly strong powers to make sure nobody was able to get inside this place without suddenly feeling simply not hungry, or remembering something incredibly important to do." Ejio said, eating another orange and topped it over the pile of peels._

"_Fair enough." Hao said. "Now tell me what I'm supposed to know."_

"_Why don't you tell me what you want to know first." Ejio said._

_Their eyes crossed and both of them suddenly know something about the other that was so incredibly similar to themselves. Almost in perfect co-ordination, the two of them rose from their seats and left the café together, Hao from the front door, and Ejio from the back, both of them carrying a small smirk on their faces, the tower of peels scattered across the table._

Hao grinned broadly as a dull light seemed to shine upon Rukio.

"It succeeded, and you played according to plan." Ejio continued lazily, setting the tower to the second layer. "Hao morphed into me, while you did the wrong choice to morph into Hao-san." He sighed softly, almost as a giggle. "You fell into another one of his traps."

Rukio frowned before his eyes widened.

"So. . ." he said. "That means. . ."

"That's right." Hao said, almost lazily now. "You didn't kill Yohmei that night. You killed me."

The bomb was dropped.

Yoh smiled knowingly. "So that's why Faust wasn't there." He said. "He was busy getting prepared for the revival of you."

Hao smiled back at him.

"That's right, my dear brother." He said warmly.

"And. . ." Rukio continued in a hoarse voice. "And why would you. . .?"

"Why would I cause my own death?" Hao appended for him. "For two reasons, actually. The first was of course to make you more confident in your strength and thinking that you had Yohmei out of your way, which was what I wanted all along. The second, however, was more complicated than that."

"And what would that be?" Yoh asked curiously.

A sickly smile appeared upon Hao's face.

"To speak to the Devil."

Sumiko's eyes widened.

"And. . .and why. . .?"

"As expected," Hao continued, ignoring her. "The Devil was furious of Rukio's escape, and it was deviously, no pun intended, planning the death of him. But I spoke to him, to tell him of my plan, and he liked it very much." He gave a casual shrug. "I wasn't comfortable of making a deal with the Devil in the first place, but I had no other choice to make my plan work. And soon, the Devil decided to play along too."

"It had something to do with your second death, I presume?" Ejio said shrewdly, placing a steady layer onto his tower.

"Precisely." Hao continued smoothly. "In order to make my death more realistic, I pre-planned the swallowing of my soul into Hell's Mouth. The whole scene went along just as planned, and as soon as all of you left the scene I was revived back to the world, and I watched Sumiko from afar, making sure she was safe."

"You said nothing to me." came a soft voice behind him.

Hao blinked and turned round to face his wife, who was staring at him emotionlessly, all relief of his return she had previously faded away from her features. Beneath the surface of her calm exterior lay hurt, pain and anger; emotions that he never meant to cause her.

"Sumiko. . ." he whispered.

The shell of a champion slowly got to his feet, his expressions livid.

"You've lost, Rukio." Ejio said behind him mundanely. Rukio turned around to face him, black bubbling boiling anger almost surging out of him. Ejio ignored this as he laid the final ice pick onto the tower, and in a swift motion flicked it down, the ice smashing to smithereens on the ground below. "The one checkmated is you."

The ice broke.

In more meanings that one.

The man let out a cry of rage and burst towards Hao Asakura, roaring and screaming at the top of his lungs. " HAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he roared, an ice pick forming in his hand in the dull shape of a spear, spinning out of control, desperate for the taste of blood.

A soft step forward.

A yell.

The stoppage of time.

Sumiko stepped before Hao, her expressions miserable. Rukio stopped in mid-step, the blade in his hand inches away from her face.

A tear fell from her face.

"I'm so sorry, Rukio." She whispered.

It was at that moment when the ground caved.

In a dull moan, a bloody hand burst out of the ground and grabbed Rukio by the hem of his sleeve; a shrewd cackling emitting from the caving earth below. A new, horrid sense of devastation and the pale taste of death divulging the sweet smell of victory; a new servant of Hell had been chosen.

And such a good addition he made.

Chains snapped upon his arms, blood red heat mixed with the spine-shivering shrieks from the grounds below. And in that moment, Sumiko felt a strong urge to spew over and vomit all over the floor. The sight of the devil's innards. . .the taste in the air of rotting flesh. . .the smell of death.

The pulsating sounds of a monster's maniacal laugh.

A small smile appeared across Rukio's wan face. It was not one that shared the distinct similarities with the one that Hao once portrayed; it was disenchanted, disappointed, detached, derailed. . .defeated in every possible way.

"You win again." He muttered to Hao, his hands losing their grip as his body dragged across the floor like a rag doll. "You bastard."

The smug smirk had totally faded from Hao's features, and was looking at his past alliance with a look of displeasure and disdain. "This is almost a letdown." He said under his breath, an ugly look across his features. "If you were spending all those years in Hell plotting to kill me, surely you could have at least come up with a more phenomenal plan to destroy me."

And in that one moment, Rukio broke out in recrudescence, and smiled. "Destroy you?" he said in a low voice. "Why would I be trying to do that?"

Hao's eyes widened.

"So you really were trying to eat up Sumiko's soul to get her hidden strengths." Anna said tightly, her fingers on her beads in tenacious grasp.

Rukio chuckled; a sound emitting from his lips like the final breath from a dying breed. "Her hidden strengths?" he said in a melancholic tone. "I was after none of the sort." His eyes shut tightly, wrenching the painful memories under his eyelids.

Hao nodded knowingly.

Anna, mystified, drew her fingers away from the beads around her neck.

"Then. . ." she whispered in a perplexed whisper.

Hao stepped forward and bent down before Rukio's shattered figure. "All you wanted to do was kill the woman who turned down your marriage proposal." came his voice, calm as the sounds of a piano down a hallow hallway; the volume and serenity of one along with it. And then he smiled willowy. "Am I not wrong?"

Anna's eyes widened, looking upwards at Yoh in shock, who shared mirrored looks of astonishment.

"_I'm sorry."_

_Rukio's eyes started blandly at the woman before him. The woman he respected, the woman he cherished, the woman he loved. . .the woman he believed loved him as much as he loved her. Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps all that he fell for was an image. A shell that portrayed her to his like and want._

_Maybe she wasn't for him, after all._

"_I cannot accept your offer." She said to him quietly._

_But she was._

"_Offer?" he found himself saying, a faint ripple of anger coursing through his veins. "What do you think this is, a contract?"_

"_I do not understand you." She said in a confused voice, a lemon being pulled out from her pocket, slowly making its way to her mouth._

_In a fit of fury, he slapped it out from her fingers, his body almost shaking with unattainable anger. Sumiko paused for a minute, gazing from him to the fallen lemon on the floor with her lucid yet faded eyes. He licked his dry lips, breathing hard, looking down at the floor; away from her._

"_Why. . .?" he asked._

_Daintily yet almost purposely slow, she bent down on her knees and picked the lemon up from the floor, brushing it against her sleeve facilely. He continued to watch her in wretched awe, both at her angelic beauty and her lurid monstrosity; loving her and wanting her while hating her and venomous at the same time. She got up to her feet, her eyes that once looked at him with such luminous beauty now so vacant and pale._

"_Because you're too weak." She whispered. _

Rukio's voice left his body as Sumiko bent down over him and kissed him tenderly across the forehead.

A heartbeat that stopped started pumping once more; refreshed and replenished.

He looked upwards to find her eyes filled with tears, her lips parted slightly in a motion that seemed to want to mouth something to him.

An apology, perhaps?

He'd received enough of those.

He choked on his baited breath, a dull trickle of blood from his shoulder dampening her shirt. The remained clutched in silent embrace, his body powerless to her touch, his eyes filling with angry tears.

"Am I strong now?" he whispered.

A sigh, and a smile.

"You always were." She spoke into his ear tenderly, holding him wretched in her embrace. She pulled him closer to her, so her lips were centimeters away from his ear; so close he could hear her sweet shuddering breath drowning out the impatient howls of the Devils Tongue. "But it was never about your ability to fight." She said, a tear falling from her face to his clenched fists below.

"It was of your heart."

And she let go.

His eyes, wide with shock, stared straightforward at Sumiko, who slowly got up to her feet and leaned herself against Hao's chest, her eyes moist.

"_The strongest man in the world. No wonder Sumiko fell for you."_

"_Only strength can win Sumiko over."_

"_I will defeat you."_

"_Sumiko fell for you for your immense power."_

"_I will be stronger than you."_

Rukio lay his head back against the ground beneath him, and let out a chuckle. "I'm the biggest fool." He whispered under his breath.

Hao held Sumiko close to his, monomous.

"Yes, you are." He said sallowly.

Rukio took one more look at what he had, what he could have had once more and what he always wanted to have, his once faded eyes suddenly so full of detached hope and a dawning awakening.

And then he smiled.

"That book you bought, Hao. . ." he whispered. Hao blinked. "The one about the quotes that suit a person's reply to answers. . .do you remember it?"

Hao nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "I do."

A mere meter away from the finish line, the succumbance to eternal death and suffering.

Rukio looked up to the skies, his expression ever so peaceful. "When you laugh, the world laughs with you. When you weep, you weep alone."

And the eclipse faded past the darkness.

A moon shone brightly once more, brought upon by the sun.

Rukio was dead.

Sumiko fell to her feet, falling from Hao's side. Her eyes stared forth at the earth that once caved in like the shallow depths of a mirthless pool, now replaced by a gap of earth spread over the man who once risked his life to get her, to give her, and to overcome her.

"To kill puts you in the jungle." Hao said in a murmur. "And the law of murder is for a killer to eventually be killed himself." He sighed. "The hunter becomes the hunted. It's only justified."

And Sumiko burst into tears.

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"You know, I'm pretty sure you just outdid yourself, Hao."

"Cheers to that, my friend."

"It was pretty cool the way you made your entrance the very second that Rukio made motion to shove that ice pick in Sumiko's direction."

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it? I had the whole image in my head, and I was pondering on what to say for like. . .five whole seconds, but I think I pulled it off pretty well."

"Seemed pretty rushed to me, though."

"Was it? I thought I held the tension pretty well."

"Looked good from where I was standing."

"Why, thank you, Yohmei."

"I just have one question though. . ."

"Fire away."

"Were you purposely waiting in a corner to make that flash appearance?"

". . ."

"Hao?"

". . .Excuse me, may I have another cup of coffee, please?"

"HE'S AVOIDING THE QUESTION!"

"I'm not avoiding anything. I just want a fresh cup of coffee."

"I'll take a dump on your face if you don't start talking now."

"Horo, that's just gross."

Sumiko stayed sullen as the laughter rang out from all different parts of the coffee shop, her fingers feeling the rough edges of the lemon piece in her hand, slowly caressing it thoughtlessly. Hao glanced in her direction, and bit his lip.

Ren placed the cup in his hands back onto the table.

"How more days left?" he asked quietly.

They understood him, as he knew the answer himself.

"One more." Horo replied him. "Pirika and I are leaving tomorrow."

The happy mood that took so long to muster deflated within seconds. Horo brought his cup of coffee up to his lips and smiled. "It's only for a few years." He said calmly. "Everything will be alright in the end. Am I not wrong, Yoh?"

"Spot on." Yoh said in a struggled voice.

Horo took a sip and grinned from the top of his mug. "Then there's no problem. Let's just take it as a long vacation away from each other."

"A sullenness from the noise, in any case." Kino mumbled as others cracked smiles.

Horo smiled softly before turning to Ren.

"So what plans have you got?" he asked.

Ren's eyes involuntarily turned to Pirika before turning back to Horo, in fear of. . .

"It's not betrayal." Horo said kindly. "What you guys got planned? I mean, besides the actions that take place behind the ending credits, of course."

"Horo!" Pirika gasped, turning crimson.

But Horo said nothing and grinned at his friend.

"What's up for you, Ren?"

Ren paused for a moment before sighing. "I wanted our last night together for a while to be doing something special, so I wanted to have the entire evening spent with her." He turned to Horo. "If that's. . ."

Horo smiled benignly.

"It's fine with me." He said warmly.

Pirika bit her lip.

"Ren, I don't think that we should. . ." she started.

"Want to spend the evening out together tonight, Anna?" Yoh said loudly, and Pirika was cut short of her sentence. Anna looked up at her husband lazily, a broad grin on his face. She glanced from him to Pirika and then to Ren and to Horo before smirking. "Yeah, sure." She said, before lowering her voice. "You've gotten smarter, Yoh." She muttered.

"What about you, Hao?" Yoh asked his brother brightly, beaming.

Hao blinked before turning to his wife, who was spinning the lemon in her hands haphazardly. "Well," he said hesitantly. "I don't think that Sumiko is in the mood for. . ."

"It's fine with me." Sumiko cut in restlessly, and Hao turned to stare at her. She looked up at him emotionlessly. "I have nothing planned for tonight, anyway."

"That's perfect, then!" Horo said, clapping his hands together happily.

Ren put his hands on Pirika's shoulders comfortingly. "Everything's going to work out fine." He said to her warmly.

Pirika paused before reaching out to touch his hand.

"I know." She whispered.

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Tamao bit her lip, watching Horo drain the cup of coffee in his hands and place it down before running up behind Ren, the two of them speaking of something about a packed luggage being too fully packed to pack anymore. She opened her mouth to speak before shutting it, shaking her head fearfully.

It was no use. She was too late, and she knew it.

All because of her wretched cowardice and stupidity, she was unable to tell her true feelings to Horo, and he was leaving the next day. She felt her eyes well up with tears. She was so stupid. So foolish. . .

"You should talk to him."

She jumped, turning to find Manta standing next to her, a smile on his face. "You'll only have yourself to blame in the end."

She laughed nervously. "W. . .what are you talking about?"

He cocked his head before shrugging and hopped off the chair he stood on, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Suit yourself." He said, walking away from her.

"Wait. . ." emitted her voice from her lips; so steady and firm that even she herself was shocked by her confidence.

The little man smiled, and turned to her.

"Absence makes the heart grow withered." He whispered. "But fonder still."

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Click click click. . .

Pause.

Scribble scribble scribble. . .

Pause.

Furious furious furious. . .

Chuckle chuckle chuckle. . .

Pause.

Laugh laugh laugh.

"Alright, I think I've got everything I wanted to do covered." Hao said, clenching his fists up to the sky in triumph.

"Me too." Yoh said with a genuine smile.

"I think I'm finished too." Ren said, placing his third cup of milk down with a clink. He looked up at Hao resolutely. "Care to share?"

"Only if you do." Hao said with a hearty wink.

"Michael Jordan does not step up to plate for the starting dunk." Ren said stoutly.

"But he's always in the starting lineup, isn't he?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Oh shut up." Ren said, blushing. "You start first."

"Fine then." Yoh said, propping up the notes before him proudly. "Get ready to be blown right out of your seat." He cleared his throat as the two of them raised their eyebrows appraisingly at him. "Alright, here I go. Beautiful walk along the beach. A sunset, of course." He added, as Hao smirked at him. "I love sunsets. Nice and orange. Afterwards with ice-cream along the pier of the beach. Later on, dinner on. . .here's my favourite part now. . ."

"Anna's chest?" Hao offered helpfully.

"Nope, but I like the concept." Yoh said with a cheeky grin. "We're going to have dinner on the rooftop of the tallest skyscraper of Japan, looking down at the city lights together."

"Nicely done." Ren said, with a small smile.

"Mine can top that." Hao said with a proud grin. "You want to go next, Ren?"

"Actually, I think I'll go last." Ren said.

"Fair enough." Hao said with a cocky grin. "My date starts off with a slow walk up the hill to the best view of Japan's finest, overlooking the city below. While watching the sunset there, we get our picture drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci; his spirit brought back to life from Faust the doctor himself."

"Sly move, brother." Yoh chuckled.

"Nice and old school." Ren said with a nod of approval.

"Afterwards, dinner in a boat along the river, with lilies in the water and glow flies around us."

"Yours is nice too." Yoh said as they hi-fived.

Hao turned to Ren.

"Now. How about yours?" he asked.

"Well, I. . ." Ren started.

"May I speak to Tao for a minute?"

The three of them blinked and turned around to find Pirika's father standing there, a grim smile on his face. "It'll only take a minute. I promise."

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Ren sat down next to the man awkwardly, his brow knitted together as Pirika's father took his time to take a seat beside him. He pulled two glasses of milk out of his pocket, taking a sideways glance at him before reaching it out to him as an offer. Never refusing or obliging on a free chance of milk, Ren took it silently.

"My son tells me you like milk a lot." The man said.

"Yeah." Ren said after a momentary pause. "I do."

The man took a moment to wolf down the milk before dropping it to the floor. "What are your plans with my daughter, Tao?"

Ren blinked, bewildered.

The man turned to him.

"She's leaving for years. You sure you can just say goodbye?"

Ren paused. "She'll be back."

"And you think you your relationship will be able to handle it?"

"I'm fair certain I'll be able to. . ."

"I was talking about my daughter, Tao." The bearded man said gruffly. "Not you. Her."

Another awkward silence, before he stood up to his feet.

"Want to know how to solve this wretched problem?" he asked.

Ren blinked.

"There's a way?" he asked.

The man grinned.

"There always is." He said triumphantly.

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"Shut your eyes."

"What for, though?"

"Just do it, dumbass. Hurry up before I slap you across the face."

"Okay."

"Not peeking?"

"Not peeking at all."

". . .Okay. Open your eyes now."

Yoh opened his eyes, pausing for a minute before they widened, and his expression softened as a small smile filled his face. "You're wearing the black dress again." He whispered under his breath.

Anna smiled coyly. "What do you think?"

He took a quick step over to her, their faces noses apart. He felt her shuddering breath against his own, and it sent shivers down his spine. "I think you're just as utterly breathtaking as you always do, if not more."

"Compliment accepted." She said, with a smirk.

"Definitely." He said with a cheeky smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and turned round to open the front door. She bit her lip as she watched him leave her side, a sudden cool seeming to pass through her.

"Yoh. . ." she whispered.

He turned to smile at her.

"Yes, Anna?" he questioned.

She chewed on her bottom lip. "About last night. . ." she started, and he hushed her with a reassuring shake of the head.

"Don't mention about it." He said. "Not yet, anyway."

"But. . ."

"Trust me." He continued, drawing her hand up to his lips, kissing it softly, sending a ripple of urge through her. A curve along the corners of his lips. "I understand. As much as you would wish me to."

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"You don't have to dress formally, by the way." Ren said lazily as he watched Pirika struggle over the choice of twenty different dresses. At the thought of that, the poor girl turned to him with shocked eyes. "Don't look at me like that." He continued without even looking at her, taking a sip of the milk in his hands. "I'm not saying I'm bringing you to some garbage truck for dinner, I'm just saying that the midnight blue silky dress might be a little too fancy for where we're going to."

"What do you want me to wear, then?' she said. "You're getting me all curious now."

Ren chuckled, drained the last of his milk and tossed it into the bin before him. "Something simple would be sufficient." He said in an offhand voice. She smirked at him and twirled on her foot.

"Got something romantic planned out, my dear man?"

"Definitely." He said, crossing his hands before her chest.

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"You ready, Sumiko?" Hao called out from the kitchen, fitting his shoes onto his feet snugly, getting up to his feet. There was no reply. He raised his eyebrows and looked at his watch. "Is she still taking a shower or something?" he muttered under his breath, making motion to go upstairs when she stepped before him, her eyes dull and sullen. The very sight of her literally had him reaching for an inhaler, taking his very breath away. Her dress was short; almost too short for her personality, yet the colour defined her, of a romantic -almost sultry- black, dark and melancholy, blending over and hiding its loneliness below its surface.

And through her emptiness he felt her strengths that refilled and replenished her.

"Sorry I made you wait." She whispered.

He smiled and slipped his hand into hers.

"Likewise." He said softly.

She paused before letting out an anguished sigh and leant her head against his chest, taking him by surprise. She shivered, holding him close in her touch. "I thought you were really gone for good." She whispered under her breath.

"Sumiko. . ." he started, when he discovered her shivering from head to toe. He shut his eyes and held her in wretched grasp. "I won't ever leave your side again." He whispered. "Never."

A pause.

"You promise?" came her voice, muffled by his shirt.

He smiled.

"Yeah." He said. "Of course."

Another pause before he chuckled and she looked up at him questioningly. "You know, Sumiko, we do have a few minutes to spare." He said coyly, his hands slowly making their way to the hem of her dress, caressing her smooth skin softly.

"You want to have sex before dinner?" she inquired primly.

"That's exactly it." He said, delighted she got the hint so soon.

There was a momentary pause and he panicked slightly at the thought of her doubt, but her smile erased his worried, a small blush appearing across his features. A smile that was so well-creased, so well-formed. . .so entirely biased toward his favour. "As long as you promise to love me for life."

And he returned it.

Both physically and soulfully.

With a heart on fire.

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"I've always liked sunsets."

Yoh turned to Anna curiously, who was looking at the setting sun with a faraway look on her face. She basked in the silence, realized his curiosity and turned to him with an answer. "It's so beautiful, don't you think?" She continued, drawing a hair away from her face.

"I guess you could say that." He laughed, picking up a stone and flicked it into the water.

She smirked.

"What's the purpose of bringing me here, anyway?" she said flirtatiously. "Trying to accomplish one of your long awaited fetishes?"

He gave her a sheepish smile, sitting himself down on the sand. "Not really." He said.

She sat down beside him, tucking her feet under her body, cocking her head. "So what's the reason, then?"

He looked off into the sunset for a moment, hesitating at her reply; almost as if thinking of an answer. But he had the answer in his head the entire time. "When we didn't speak for more than a month, I was afraid you were having an affair of some sort." He said quietly. She would have snorted in laughter if not for the pale simplicity of his voice. "And there was a point I wondered if you even loved me at all." He paused for the moment, and broke it soon after. "And when those negative thoughts started coming into my head, I turned to the sunset."

She swallowed.

"And why the sunset?" she pressed.

He leant back into the sand. "Because it's so complimentary, don't you think?"

"In what circumstance?"

"People can have many different perspectives to view something. And one of those things would be a sunset." He reached a hand out, almost in a motion to reach out to the setting sun. "Every day ends eventually. It doesn't matter how long it takes or how quickly time passes. . .the day always ends. And the underlying difference would be whether it ends on a high note or not. But we know that it will rise again. The sun will always rise on the other side of the sky. . .even if we fail to see it come up once more." He clenched his hand into a fist. "I guess that always strengthens me."

Her hand gently drew itself over his in a delicate motion.

He blinked, and turned to her, only to be met by the softness of her lips. A wave of shuddering relief passed through him like an orgasm, and he held her tightly in his arms, no longer speaking; letting their lips do the talking. He was just about to unzip the back of her dress when she pulled away from him, earning a groan of disappointment.

"Wait for it." She said breathlessly. "Wait for the end of the night."

He paused, the both of them breathing hard. Then he got up to his feet, dusting himself off. There was a momentary pause as they stayed there simply watching the waves lap the shore before he turned to her with his hand outstretched.

"Shall we go?" he said in a whisper of husky tenderness.

She smiled, took his hand, and got to her feet.

"Where to now?" she asked.

"What do you feel about ice-cream along the pier while watching the beach from a higher view?"

"Corny, but nice."

"What flavour do you like your ice-cream?"

"Anything not orange."

"Ouch."

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"It's pretty cold." Pirika muttered under her breath as the two of them stepped out into the cool wind down the streets of eastern Tokyo. Ren chuckled as he shut the car doors behind him as Jun drove off with a knowing smile. She looked around him and glared at him huffily. "This was your romantic evening spot?" she said. "A trash dump?"

"No, it isn't." he chuckled. "Look at that shop with the red signpost."

She strained her eyes to look.

"It's an old ramen stall." She said sulkily.

"Damn right." He said with a broad grin. "C'mon. Let's go in."

"What? But Ren. . ." she whined.

"Oh, just follow me." He said, almost dragging her into the shop. He lead her to the front door before stepping back, grinning at her. "Open the door." He said to her, beckoning her forward. She glanced at him warily.

"Ren, I don't really see a. . ." she started, but stopped at the look on his face. There was a pause of hesitancy before she shrugged her doubts away and opened the doors, and gasped at what she saw.

"Oh my God, Ren. . ."

Within the pathetic-looking ramen stall was a room circled with candles, illuminating through the darkness, the candles along the sides leading them into the center of the room where a small table with two stools were held, two bowls of ramen on it with. . .

"Two glasses of milk." She said withering, giggling. "You just don't change, do you?"

He smiled sheepishly, his hands on his hips. "It took me ages to do this. I've been coming to this stall for years now, and they agreed to close down the shop just for tonight for me to. . .well. . .do this." He winked. "You like it?"

"It's beautiful." She said breathlessly.

He smiled.

"And the night's just begun." He said softly. "Hungry?"

She turned to him, kissing him softly on the lips before sliding her tongue into his mouth, earning a gasp of approval from him, his hands snaking down to the bottom of her dress, smirking through the kiss. "We haven't even started on the main course yet." He said cockily.

"The food can wait." She murmured. "Right now, all I can think of is how hot you must be feeling under all those layers of clothes." Her lips traveled to his earlobe, nipping on it playfully, earning a groan from him.

"You must be smoking buckets under yours too." He said with a strangled groan as her hands stroked his zipper.

"I'm melting." She muttered as he practically tore her underwear away from her legs, situating himself between her, earning a moan from her. She tongued him with increasing wanting, the two of them crumbling to the floor in a heap. "And all you're doing is fanning the fire."

00000000000000000000000000000000

"What do you think?" Hao asked her with a broad grin, the both of them sitting atop of the Spirit of Fire comfortably, watching the sunset from the top of the mountain. "Pretty good view, don't you think?"

"It's alright, I guess." Sumiko said sullenly.

He raised her eyebrows at her mundane reaction before sitting down beside her, crossing his legs. "You still miss him, don't you?" he asked quietly.

"Am I to feel guilty that I do?"

"Not at all. In fact I expected you to."

"Yeah, you can always foresee the future, can't you?" she said sullenly, and he winced. He glanced at her solemn form and sighed, drawing a lemon from inside his pocket and wedged it between his lips.

"You're mad at me for faking my death, eh?"

She blinked, her actions made clear and obvious as a stain on a piece of paper.

He watched her, and observed her in her silence.

"I actually thought you died back there." came her voice, her face turned away from him.

He blinked, turning to her direction in hopes to see her facial expressions. But in the darkness of the night, it was hard to tell. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Sumiko. I really am. I just had to keep it a secret from you in order to make the plan work."

She shivered.

"I actually cried for you, you scheming bastard."

And the night suddenly seemed ever so cold.

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"What's the ice-cream taste like?"

"Not as bitter as some chocolate taste like." Anna said unscrupulously. "How's your carrot flavoured ice-cream, my stupid husband?"

"I told the guy I wanted something orange, and he gives me this." Yoh said gloomily, giving it a lick and then turned to her with a pained look on his face. "It tastes like carrots." He moaned to her.

"What the Heck did you think it would taste like, you moron?" she said, rolling her eyes as she took another bite out of the ice-cream in her mouth.

"Something better, I guess." He said with a sigh, looking at his watch before grinning, tossing the ice-cream into the bin. "Well then, it looks like the balcony should be empty just about now. Let us make haste, Anna."

"Who the Heck speaks like that, anymore?" she said witheringly.

He grinned.

"You liked the sunsets, and the ice-cream?"

"Very much so." She said, giving her ice-cream one more lick. "Where are you going to take me now?"

That grin once more.

"I'm going to take you to the stars."

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Panting.

Sweating.

Clothes tossed about carelessly.

"This seems like just any other night, just with much more sex." Pirika said observationally, and Ren chuckled.

"The best things in life are free, my dear." He said.

She smirked and cuddled up to him. "Is this all that we are doing tonight, Ren?" she whispered into his ear.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I know this wasn't as flashy as you expected it to be, but I thought you would have wanted our last night together to be simple, and alone. After all, that was how we got together in the first place, anyway."

She smiled and kissed his chest lovingly.

"I love you." She whispered.

He drew his fingers through her hair and kissed it.

"I love you too."

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Sumiko looked at the picture handed to her and let out a small smile. "I have to say, I would never have expected Leonardo painting a picture for me. . .never in my millions of years." She pocketed it, and drew another lemon to her lips. "It's good. This would be a treasure for my many years to come."

Hao watched her quietly, his hands in his pockets.

She turned to him, and pulled the lemon from her lips and placed it over his. His eyes widened in shock and she turned away.

"Where are we going to end the night?" she asked in a rather offhand sort of voice.

"I thought you were mad at me." He said softly.

She turned to him, almost incredulously before letting out a small sigh. "Well, if this night ends well, I just might forgive you."

His expressions brightened, and she would have laughed if not for the toddling of Opacho towards them, a small smile on his face.

"Everything's ready, Hao-sama." He said softly.

"Excellent." Hao said jubilantly.

"What's ready?" Sumiko asked curiously.

All he did was smile.

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"It took me ages to reserve this place." Yoh said, as he locked the door behind him gruffly. "But it looks like everything paid off in the end."

Anna didn't hear a word he said, and he smiled softly at the sight of her take small steps forward to the gaping wonder of an escalade of stars across the horizon. With each step she took brought her forward to a further lapse within a dream, a continuation of a requiem of a dream.

He smiled and stepped up behind her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispered.

"Yeah." She said breathlessly. "It is."

She paused for a moment before turning to him. "You turned to the sunset when you needed reassurance." She said in a hushed voice. "I turned to the stars."

He blinked. "And why did you do that?" he asked.

No reply.

He sighed. "Why did you do that bet with Yoko, Anna?" he asked her, almost sternly, earning a shiver from her. "Hao told me all about it the day after his death, but I still cannot believe it. Why didn't you trust me?"

"Because I just couldn't." she said, a tremble in her voice. "And I turned out half-right, didn't I?"

He paused before sighing, looking up at the stars.

"You know I did that because Hao told me to." He muttered.

Another momentary pause before she turned to face him.

"Have you ever wished upon a star before, Yoh?"

Silence.

"Nope."

She turned away from him, shut her eyes tightly and entwined her fingers together almost in a motion of prayer. She stayed silent for quite a while, a sense of tranquility overbearing atop the two of them, a gust of gentle wind billowing through them. A familiar bird perched on a tree nearby, cocking its head fondly.

Anna opened her eyes.

And in that moment her distance seemed ever so close, yet her figure shattering to pieces at his slightest touch. A step forward, yet a kick backwards at the same time. She was so altogether beautiful, like a shiny porcelain doll. "I've said my wish, Yoh." She said to him. "What's yours?"

He said nothing, and she turned away from him. Her gaze fell onto a table in a corner of the balcony on the top of the building, a bottle of champagne on it with two wine glasses, two silver plates elegantly placed on the sides of a large sliver of meat, two handsome looking chairs below.

She chuckled before looking down at her feet. "You know why I choose to look at the stars?" she whispered. He made no answer. "Because no matter if there's one star alone in the sky, or with millions alongside with it. . .in the darkness it shines equally bright. On a light brought forth by its own."

A dazed yet bedazzled look passed his eyes.

She turned to him.

"Would you love me without having to touch me?"

A lump in his throat, and for that moment he thought he could not reply. But then he did, with equal fervor. "I would if given reason to." Her eyes widened. "If it was for your experiments for my infidelity, then forget it. But if it were to protect you, or to comfort you. . .then so be it."

A strong surge of warmth filled her, her legs struggling for support.

But then she lost herself, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his, tears forming in her eyes in gratitude and relief. His eyes widened in shock before smiling softly and hugged her back, kissing her forehead.

"I've missed you." He whispered.

"I've missed you too." She said in a hoarse whisper.

And the stars above, by the million, shined brighter than ever before.

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The paddles of the boat sliced through the water serenely of such placidity, a motion that made even a man of such monstrous shamanic strength to the pit of handsome gracefulness. And Sumiko amused herself with that thought, leaning against the back of the small boat the two of them sat in, a lemon pitched between her twin lips.

"Moon. . .river. . ." Hao hummed under his breath. "Wider than a mile. . .I'm crossing you with. . ."

"Style." Sumiko finished for him mundanely, and he paused in tune to grin at her.

"You've heard of that song too?" he asked her happily.

"More or less." She said in a dull tone, looking at her reflection in the calm waters. "One of Kino's favourite songs since years ago. I still can't find a strong liking for it, though."

He gave her a withered smile before continuing to row, watching her out of the corner of his eye. But her actions did not change, and watched the paddles make faint ripples in the waters below. He sighed. "Are you upset about his death," he started, "Or are you angry at me faking my death," then he turned to her. "Or are you frustrated by the fact that there had to be death at all?"

With his words he could feel the faint change in conditions; the wind let out a howl, birds screeched and perched from the branches above and the boat started to sway, rocking back and forth rhythmically.

A sigh.

"I don't know what I feel, actually." She said in a placid voice, yet it shook with tremors from the ices edged along her tone. "In my mind, I've always tried to draw up two extremes. One being the husband that I know, trust and love. . .and the other being my manipulative, psychotic ex-lover." Her voice carried from her through euphemistically. "But now I have no idea what separates the two of them apart." She finished bitterly.

His confidence seemed to sag and fail; his hands pausing in the actions upon the rows for a minute before looking up at the moon.

"The lighted flame was succumbed by the darkness." Sumiko said idly, a tone too simplistic that it sounded unnatural. "And in the gloom of the starless skies, I thought that the light had perished for eternity. But then it shone once again. . .brighter than ever before."

His despondent eyes brightened as he turned down from the skies above to the woman before him, a look of pale awe on his face.

"I can't control myself from despising what you did to me, Hao." She said disconsolately. "But I can't help myself from loving you either."

And with those words he was struck with hope, yet emptied with it still.

He looked down at his feet before drawing both oars from the sides of the boat, moving himself so he was just noses away from her. Her cheeks reddened, her breath eradicating, her heart hammering against her chest. There they stayed in a locked gaze, him looking into her eyes, into her heart. . .penetrating her soul.

"Remember what I said to you before I left, Sumiko?" Hao said to her earnestly.

A pause.

"You said you would never leave me." She muttered cynically.

"Even through death." He finished for her. "And I never did. I was watching over you the entire time. Your fears, your tears. Your undeniable sorrow."

Angry tears started to fall from her eyes.

He caressed her cheek softly. "I promised to come back for you, even if I died." He said to her in a soft purr. "Even if I had to crawl out of the Gates of Hell, I would do it. Surely you did not forget that?"

Yet another pause; Sumiko shaking from head to toe, tears falling down from her eyes, shivering from the cold.

"How could I forget?" came her voice in a hardened tremor.

And there he smiled once more.

His fingers drew a line toward her chin, resting upon it, his face edging closer to her face till there were mere breaths apart; the soft smell of lemons stroking his features softly. And he chuckled. "I told myself before in Hell that I would never let myself be defeated without tasting your beautiful lips once more." He said.

A forced smile of sorts. Not from anger, more of coy tears and bitterness.

"Surely you did not forget that?" she said in a choked voice, pausing in resilience before softly saying for a preeminent time. "Hao?"

A chuckle.

"How could I forget?" he whispered huskily, bringing her lips forward to meet his.

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"Good food."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

After that, the two of them ate in respectful silence, the meat slice before them diminishing quickly. It was as Yoh reached forward to pour himself another glass of wine before Anna sighed and placed her utensils on the table, and he blinked in the motion of pouring himself a drink. She sighed and bit her lip. "There's something I have to ask you, Yoh." She said to him.

"Anything." He said cheerfully, breaking out from the hesitation and dipped the wine into the glass, swirling it lightly before tipping it down his throat.

She opened her mouth to speak before shutting it again, leaning back in her chair. "Why do you love me?"

He blinked before turning to her curiously. "That sounds like something asked in the last few minutes at the end of a very cheesy movie, Anna." He said with raised eyebrows.

"I was just wondering if. . ." she said in a flustered voice, blushing furiously. Then her confidence sagged and weighed out and she went back to her food gloomily. "Forget about it." She said.

His hand caught hers within his, catching her by surprise, the utensils dropping out of her hand, clattering to the floor noisily.

But yet it failed to break the silence.

"You're acting rather strangely, Anna."

"All I want to know is of my husband's love for me."

"No, what you want is reassurance."

"And I'll gain that by knowing why you love me."

"Of course I love you."

"I'm not asking for a statement, I'm asking for the reason behind it."

"You're just sounding like a science teacher, now."

". . ."

". . ."

Yoh sighed and leaned against the back of his chair, stretching his arms whether in exasperation or in preparation before bouncing back to the front of his chair. "You're insecure." He said to her.

"Good observation." She said sarcastically before taking in a shuddering breath. "I have an unsolved puzzle in my hands now, but you're the one holding the missing pieces. Hao asked you to deliberately be found in the room in the arms of Malena." She gulped for breath. "What would you have done?"

Yoh let out a nervous laugh. "I think the answer's quite clear."

"Is it?" said she in an appraising and doubtful manner. "Would you say that you would have successfully kept a hand away from her even if I denied physical contact with you for two months? Three? A year?"

Yoh said nothing for a moment before chuckling. "Now I understand what you're saying." He said softly before picking up the champagne glass and tilted it to his lips once more. "Would one be more serene in actions taken if they were given a reason for their consequences, or deemed against it for all eternity without even knowing what they did wrong?"

"I. . ."

He smiled. "Obviously I'll stick by your side through thick and thin, Anna." He said. "All I need is your word. Your answer. Your reason, and I'll be with you through anything that comes our way." His grip on her tightened. "Anything."

A pale drop of rain fell down from the skies and splattered upon her wrist.

"I love you for your temperament." He said sincerely. "I love you for your beauty; I love you for your brains. I love you for the fact that you stayed by my side to help me revise for my test those years back. I love you for not ripping that Boblove poster down from your room."

Her lips twitched slightly on that.

"I love you for that night when you sneaked out to buy that new CD for me and lied that Horo bought that for me. I love you for that night where a thunderstorm brew in the skies and you cuddled up to me in bed."

A faint drizzle started to fall from the skies now.

"I love you for your infrequent smile. I love you for. . ."

She broke him in his sentence with a jump across the table, landing in his arms, kissing his lips passionately. His eyes widened before wrapping his arms around, a small smirk appearing across his face as he felt her hands on his zipper.

"So fast, Anna?" he whispered.

"The food's already cold, anyway." She said through clenched teeth and dueled tongues. "Might as well save it for later."

"Just admit you missed having sex with me too." He said cockily, his hands on her dress, unzipping it from the back slowly.

"I'm not admitting anything." She said haughtily, getting him out of his pants and boxers impatiently, her hands over his swollen member immediately in a heated action. Yoh let in a sucked breath, moaning.

"I missed your hands." He muttered.

"And tongue." She whispered, his fingers slowly stroking him and he gasped out loud, holding onto her tightly.

"It's raining, Anna." He moaned. "Let's go in."

"As if that ever stopped you." She chuckled before pulling away from him slightly, her hands to her sides in an almost innocent manner, accentuating her breasts with the placements of her shoulders. "Undress me, Yoh."

Words he missed, words he almost forgot, words that sent whirlwinds of pleasure down his spine and into his heart.

With trembling hands he softly pushed the sleeves of her red dress down her shoulders, and allowed the soft material to slide off her body to a small pool below them. There she lay on top of him, an expression of pure lust across her features.

The rain brought forth hidden desires, as it did to accentuate the past ones.

Her wet drenched hair slung across her shoulder, the wet rain moistening her skin, begging for his touch. And there she lay there over him in nothing but a black bra and underwear, her smooth tan skin caressing his own.

"You're so beautiful." He said hoarsely, a finger drawing out to make a thin line along the arch in her back; a curve almost articulated by God himself with such distinct perfection. Out of her lips came forth a purr at his touch, causing him to shiver from head to toe, and he gently cupped her thigh in his hand, spreading her legs so she dominantly lay over him, and in a quick maneuver he was on top of her.

"I want you so damn bad, Anna." He said through gritted teeth, his hand leaving her reluctantly. "But I won't force myself upon you." His eyes skimmed her wonderful figure before smiling slightly. "Not yet, anyway."

"Is that so?" she said in a husky whisper, wrapping her legs around his waist, unbuttoning the shirt on his before removing it from his body, leaving him stark naked before her, and she smiled blushingly. "You have a great body too." She murmured.

"Not as much a full package as you, anyway." He said with benign modesty, his thumb and forefinger expertly flicking open her bra clasp, removing it from her gently, and he gasped at the sight of her pale breasts, damp in the rain. Almost as a man meeting a long lost lover he brought a hand forward and rested it gently against her quivering breast, and she let out a moan as his hand was replaced by his lips, suckling and nibbling on it reverently. Soon tenderness led to hunger, and he found himself feasting on her, his hands all over her body, her helpful moans and whispers encouraging him forward, her hands leading his head to places so long since explored.

And after moments he was satisfied and pulled away, leaving her gasping with the shortness of breath, panting, her face red and pleased. His hand then brought itself to her secret spot; the place that craved his touch the most.

And he was going to satisfy that craving.

"Please, Yoh." She pleaded her voice hoarse with wanting. "I want you in me."

And he satisfied her as he did for him, removing her of the constriction of her underwear, leaving her stark naked below him, and he relished in the sight before penetrating her with one smooth thrust, earning a whimpering, gasping moan from the girl beneath him, her throat dry from the gasps of pleasure.

And he let out a gasp of achievement as he looked up to the skies in ecstatic pleasure, a laugh emitting from his lips as he paused; enjoying the warmth of being inside her, the joy of being with her, and the accomplishment of succumbing her.

"I love you, Anna." He said.

Never had his words meant so much; never had he spoke so true.

And through tears of joy and elation came her words right back.

"I love you too, Yoh."

And with rhythmic thrusts to compare to hers, he plunged inside her, gripping her sides in hungry want.

"Oh! Oh my God! Oh God, YES!!!"

Her cries matched with his moaning grunts; their beings combining, and for that one moment they were one, as their joys met each others in steady tempo.

"Yoh, I think I. . ." came her voice in a strangled moan.

"I think I am too." He said in a grunt. "Can you wait for me?"

A smile.

"Like you did for me?"

A smile back.

And then a wince.

"Oh, God, Anna. . ." came his yell, bucking his hips as he brought himself into his arms, her teeth nibbling on his ear ferociously, wrapping her arms around him, her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Yoh. . ." she panted. "I. . .can't hold it in anymore. . ."

It was then when he yelled out loud in a shattering orgasm to meet his, her fingers clawing into his back in equal pleasure. . .

And he came into her as she did on her own accord, her cries deafening to his ears yet a melodic tune of hymn to his soul as he brought her closer into his arms, the gentle rocking of the two of them never ceasing even through the laughter, sweat and tears.

And the rain continued to fall.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The clock struck midnight.

Pirika woke up in expectation to find herself in Ren's arms, but that happened to be none of the sort. Instead he was standing before her, looking at his watch and smiling softly to himself. It was after a few moments when he noticed her wake and his smile turned into a broad grin, his hand slipping nonchalantly into his pocket. "You're finally awake." He said fondly. "How are you?"

"Fine." She said groggily before getting up to her feet in a bolted jump. "Oh my Gosh, it's past midnight." She muttered. "I haven't even packed for leaving, and now I have to get ready for. . ."

"You don't have to anywhere, Pirika." Ren said calmly.

"Yeah, I do." She said, struggling into her clothes. "We have to hurry, though, because we're meant to have one last breakfast together with the hang, and then I have to rush back to get my. . ."

"I found a loophole."

She stopped in mid-sentence, followed by the abrupt silence that tensed up the entire room. Pirika stayed in placid silence, gaping at the man before her, a cocky smile on his face. She allowed him a full minute of self-elation before curing her own curiosities. "What did you find out?" she asked.

"It was all a simple matter of factual definitions, actually." Ren continued languidly, slowly, confidently. "Yet it took me an hour of thought and a visit from your father to make me finally make up my mind."

"Make up your mind?" she asked. "My father spoke to you?"

A smirk, a nod of agreement.

"What have you figured out?"

He was silent for a moment before continuing, making her almost moan out in frustration. "I was waiting for change to happen for me. Turns out change was waiting for me to catch up with it. One waiting, another ceasing pace. Though both stop, nothing happens." He turned and smiled. "I don't think I can last so many years without you, Pirika."

She gulped in breath, excited and expectant.

"I don't think so either." She said breathlessly.

Into his pocket his hand went, an action that was so careless yet so significant at the same time.

"_It's compulsory. You know that, don't you, Ren?"_

_Ren turned to the stern, bristled face of the father of a loved daughter. He stayed muted in the monotonous silence, stuck between the simplicity and the revelation of the truth. He looked away. "Of course I know."_

_The tupid look seemed to bustle slightly in dull humor. "You're unsure." The man said. "What is it compulsory to?"_

A clenching upon an item, a treasure beheld.

_Bewilderment._

"We stumble in the things before us because we keep looking behind." He said to her softly. "Why look back in the first place?"

"_Compulsory to those from your family clan."_

"_That's exactly right." The man said. "Which means that you cannot come along."_

"_I'm clear of that." Ren said quickly. _

_That look again._

"_You're unsure." He says. "What makes one illegible?"_

_The dim bulb brightening._

And from the pocket, the young man pulls out ring to the widened eyes of the young lady before him. He smiles. "Marriage changes your surname to a Tao." He said in an almost casual manner. "As long as we are married, you are no longer eligible for the trip."

_The man chuckles and gets to his feet, turning to Ren for one last look._

The elation on her face. The shock, the tears, the brightness that seemed to succumb her entire features. . .the answer clearly written on her face.

"Marry me, Pirika." He whispers.

_And as the man leaves Ren on the steps alone, he shuffles along the side of his feet, his hands in his pockets. "You're not unsure anymore." He whispers. "In fact. . ."_

There comes the kiss.

"_You knew the answer all along."_

No words needed.

00000000000000000000000000000000000

"Okay, I need to make sure that I've got everything I planned down in the list. Hao, help me read them down as you tick them along, will you?"

"With pleasure, my friend. Fire away."

"Books. Magazines."

"Check."

"I never knew you could read, Horo."

"That's what the colourful pictures in the magazines are for, Yoh."

"Oh yes, of course."

"Go on, Hao. Quit trying to stroke Sumiko's legs from under the table."

"Oh sorry, old habit. Clothes."

"Put down that glacier, Ejio. At least save it for after I'm through, anyway."

". . ."

"Put it down."

"Fine, sister."

". . .Clothes."

"Check."

"iPod."

"Check."

"Food and clothes."

"Check."

"Writing material."

"Check."

"Can Horo write too?"

"I guess so. He can use a keyboard, can't he?"

"CHECK. Continue, Hao."

"If you insist-wow, this is awesome coffee- photo albums."

"Check."

"Underwear."

"Check."

". . ."

"Trust me on this one."

Hao raised his eyebrows at the others, receiving a shrug before ticking the last checkbox and passed it back to Horo. "Done. Seems like a pretty simple list of things for a three year trip, Horo."

"Yeah, well, it's going to go as fast as a breeze." Horo said with a yawn, stretching his arms, taking the cup of coffee to his hands and took a quick sip. He turned to Pirika who was strangely quiet and chuckled. "Don't feel bad, Pirika." He said. "I knew this would happen in the very end. Dad told me about it from the start."

"But. . ."

Horo placed a hand on his sister's shoulder reassuringly. "You just make sure you take care of yourself, are taken care of by Ren, and take care of him. That will be more than enough for me."

Tears welled up in her eyes and wiped them away hastily.

The doors of the coffeehouse opened and there stood Horo's father, a gruff smile on his face. "We're ready to go, Horo."

A smile.

Horo drained the last of his coffee and slammed it down to the table and stretched, getting up to his feet. "Looks like my time here is up. I'll see all of you here in the coffee shop in three years time." He turned to smirk at Ren. "My coffee was your treat, of course."

"Obviously." Ren said, rolling his eyes.

A moment of pause, Horo smirking at the man before him, Ren refusing to meet his gaze. But then he sighed, his eyes shut.

"Take care of yourself, my friend." He whispered.

Horo grinned back at him, stepping past him.

"You take care of my sister." He muttered in a chuckle.

And with that he was gone.

And the table in the coffeehouse seemed one chair less full.

"Three years, huh?" Anna muttered under her breath. "Seems like an awful long time."

"It will be." Lyserg said ruefully. "But we'll manage. Somehow."

"What if everything crumbles to the ground before we get the chance?" Ejio said lazily, toppling his bridge on the thirteenth layer.

"What if we are unable to cope with the harsh realities?" Sumiko muttered, adding to the sorrow.

Yoh chuckled.

"Don't worry." He said. "Everything will work out in the end."

A smile from Hao, his arm propped over Sumiko's. A small smile from Anna, her fingers entwined with Yoh's from under the table. Two from Ren and Pirika, looking forward together. Two others from Faust and Eliza, together even past the defeat of death. A silent moment from Chocolove. A strengthened heart from Ryu, his hand clenched into a fist. A release from a weakened state from Lyserg. Three from Kino, Yohmei and Ejio, bonded together with trust and faith. One from Manta, a heart of truth.

And beyond the door, one from Tamao. A heart of unwavering courage and heart.

And the Ainu boy finally turned around to see her.

Acknowledging her presence.

Their glances crossed, their eyes passed. And through that moment he wondered just how much he bothered to know about her, and why she remained invisible to him for so long when she suddenly appeared so clear and forward to his eyes.

And there she spoke.

"I'll wait for you." came her voice, a voice so soft and melodious it was almost as if the entire world had hushed up just for him to hear her words.

First ununderstandable, then it became clear.

He smiled.

"I'll be back." He said, slinging his bag upon his shoulder.

His father grinned, getting up to his feet.

Horo turned one last time. Not just for Tamao, but for everyone he ever knew. The battles, the hardships, the good times and the bad. And for that one second, whomever he was leaving behind rose to their feet in salute.

The old veterans, the ladies in the coffeehouse, the friends he was putting behind his feet.

He let a grin pass his lips.

"You'll wait for me. Won't you?"

A rhetorical question, answered all the same.

"Yes."

EPOLIGUE

_5 Months Later_

Anna poured herself a cup of coffee calmly, glancing at Yoh behind her in a furtive look and he smiled sheepishly at her, adding sugar into it.

"Anna."

The both of them turned with questioned glances to see Malena and Yoko standing before them. An impassive moment of silence passed the four of them; two wondering of how much anger they should show, the other two wondering of the best put apology. And then Anna stepped past them, and their eyes widened.

"You gain nothing by looking behind." She whispered under her breath, taking a sip of the coffee in her hands. "You fall forward because you turn around. Whereas you walk with ease with the world beneath with your feet with your attention forward." She turned to them. "I have no regrets of what I did. Do you?"

And with that she turned around once more to walk away.

"Now if you're done regretting, I want the two of you to follow me into the main room, I have something very special I want to announce everyone."

They stood there gaping at her, and Yoh gave them a small smile.

"Keep up with her pace." He said passively, walking past them as well. "She won't stop to wait for you or turn around."

And with that he followed her to the grand area where Anna stood, a small smirk on her face. She stood there was grace and an air of authority; yet she was so delicate and tender at the same time. And it was then when Yoh told himself he would love her. Love her till the end of all time.

Because of her strength; kindling with her weaknesses.

She turned to Yoh with a coy smirk.

"Care to do the honours, Yoh?" she whispered.

He smiled and stepped forward, reaching into his pocket for a cigar.

"We're having a boy." He said with a laugh.

And the two of them linked their fingers together; entwining them together in a loving caress, bowing together as one to the thunderous applause.

END CHAPTER 10 (FINALE)

This is the very end, everyone. Unlike last time, there will definitely be no more sequels to this story, or any additions to any of my stories from now on. Sorry to leave behind so much, but I sincerely hope you can add me on MSN or send me an e-mail if you want to keep in touch. Meanwhile, I hope all of you review if have always been a fan, have just read this and enjoyed it. Please read and review the last chapter I will ever put on Thank you everyone. It has been an honour.

Jack-adam _December 2004 – March 2007_

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE LAST WORK OF Jack-Adam


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